Re: [ARSCLIST] OK - Does Anyone Know More About This?

[Jeffrey Kane <jeffkane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

That, sir, is a winning statement. The major music empires have eaten their
own for quite some time now. They're now reaping what they've sown in the
form of formulaic lather-rinse-repeat one hit wonders that last perhaps two
albums and then go 'poof'. Combine that with the war on dynamic range
currently being waged that renders listening to even brilliant content
impossible for more than 3:30 at a time and you have the current industry
woes. Obviously that's oversimplified but just as with cassettes in the '80s
and CD-Rs in the early '90s; it's the content that's responsible for sales
being off. 

Speaking of SACD; IMO Sony and the other majors absolutely missed the boat.
You can't rip an SACD and keep multichannel sound. While virtually no one
listens at home anymore, *millions* spend time in the car commuting. SACD's
hi-res may not provide clear benefits in the automotive environment but
multichannel absolutely does! I have DVD-A in car. I'm about to have my dash
hacked apart to put a separate SACD player in as well (Sony FINALLY released
one). Multichannel in the car is *that* good. Yet, everyone was so worried
about DRM and content protection that they forgot to market their wares,
innovate, and provide a reason for the consumer to stump up another $14.95
to buy the same album for the (potentially) fifth time. 

This isn't the end, and the music industry isn't dead. What we end up with
may simply not be what we know today; yet people always have and will still
want to listen to music. If audio only didn't work, MTV would still be
mostly music videos and the video single wouldn'tve died a quiet death. If
higher quality didn't matter, even the Russian rip-off site AllOfMP3
wouldn'tve offered lossless options. I'd *love* to see what their mix of
track sales is by codec and bit-rate.  


-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Olhsson
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2007 6:56 PM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] OK - Does Anyone Know More About This?

-----Original Message-----
>From Roger Kulp: "...We have entered a world where The iPod has become the
new reference..."

I'm afraid it's more like we've entered a world where live music is no
longer the reference. Stop a moment and think about what the words "High
Fidelity" mean. This is real basic stuff that we audio folk tend to lose
sight of. Most of the recordings that we cherish were a sincere attempt at
reproducing the experience of a live musical performance.

Something to be optimistic about is the fact that that record sales are in
the toilet. I strongly suspect young people aren't buying recordings for the
very same reasons we aren't buying new recordings. All of the talk blaming
new technology is just an excuse because the sales of new titles have been
in the toilet for over a decade. Enrico Caruso proved that it is about the
content a century ago and Harry Potter just proved it once again.

Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com