View Full Version : Columbia House closes its doors in Canada due to ‘obsolete’ media...
Diamondjimi
12-14-2010, 03:42 AM
Columbia House closes its doors in Canada due to ‘obsolete’ media
By Marc Weisblott | Canada - Daily Brew – Fri, 10 Dec 11:45 AM EST
The promise of a dozen albums for one dollar, or some other irresistible introductory offer from the Columbia House music and movie club, came to an end in Canada on Thursday.
The entire Toronto staff was terminated after its parent company's Canadian division declared bankruptcy.
Reports about the sudden closure of Direct Brands Media, which was also offering new members a $3 book from the Doubleday Book Club, echoed a now-familiar story of an entertainment retailer unable to justify its continued existence in the digital age.
"People like to get it for free on the internet," company graphic designer Jeff Betts told the Toronto Star. "The media we sell . . . it's obsolete."
While similar laments have been heard repeatedly over the past decade, it's nonetheless rare for a company like this to abruptly cease operations, leading one to wonder how they hung in for so long.
Based on a Toronto Sun story that noted 100 employees have been left without severance just before the holidays, the closure seemed to take most of them by surprise.
Columbia House Record Club has a history dating back to 1955, designed to deliver music through the mail to Americans with limited access to record stores. Business boomed further with the introduction of cassettes and 8-track tapes, and later videocassettes.
The field became even more competitive with the higher profit margins of CDs and DVDs.
Marketing to new members generally consisted of offering an initial flurry of titles, practically for free, with the less-prominent condition that a certain number be purchased at an inflated retail price from a monthly catalogue during the membership period.
Just in case you couldn't decide which album you wanted to buy that month, Columbia House was happy to send their featured selection to you, unless you mailed in a refusal.
These practices came under greater scrutiny by the time people found online forums to complain about them.
BMG Music Service, which eventually absorbed Columbia House in the U.S., cited competition from online disc retailers when it closed in Canada in 2000. Two years ago, after the sale of the company to Direct Brands, the music club was phased out.
The company continues to sell new CDs online to American customers for $6.99 each, with one delivered each month, based on selections placed into a queue.
Columbia House Canada continued to offer memberships, initiated with the purchase of a discounted DVD, along with the promise of "No More Unwanted Shipments!" A similar approach was taken by the Doubleday Book Club, which hoped members poking around its website to fill minimum purchase requirements would add a few more discounted items to their cart.
Now, like so many other forms of media affected by the digital age, the Columbia House pitch has officially become a thing of the past:
Link (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/columbia-house-closes-doors-canada-due-obsolete-media.html)
sadaist
12-14-2010, 04:58 AM
About 7 years ago or so, I sold every single one of my cd's on eBay. Probably had about 300 of them. All the Van Halen, Crue, Priest, Leppard, everything. Burned them all to my pc and backed them up on an external drive. I wanted to get $4-$6 a piece while I still could (before they were $0.50 cents each). Sold every one. A few took more than 1 time listing. but within a month they were all gone.
I currently do not have any cd's except for the blank ones that I put music on from the computer to play in the truck. I miss the sleeves & artwork. But not that much.
Diamondjimi
12-14-2010, 12:25 PM
About 7 years ago or so, I sold every single one of my cd's on eBay. Probably had about 300 of them. All the Van Halen, Crue, Priest, Leppard, everything. Burned them all to my pc and backed them up on an external drive. I wanted to get $4-$6 a piece while I still could (before they were $0.50 cents each). Sold every one. A few took more than 1 time listing. but within a month they were all gone.
I currently do not have any cd's except for the blank ones that I put music on from the computer to play in the truck. I miss the sleeves & artwork. But not that much.
Very lucrative idea. Do buy music online or steal it? (just curious)
RIP Columbia House :(
signed,
Mike Hunt, former subscriber 1987-88
kwame k
12-14-2010, 07:31 PM
:lmao:
Terry
12-14-2010, 08:22 PM
About 7 years ago or so, I sold every single one of my cd's on eBay. Probably had about 300 of them. All the Van Halen, Crue, Priest, Leppard, everything. Burned them all to my pc and backed them up on an external drive. I wanted to get $4-$6 a piece while I still could (before they were $0.50 cents each). Sold every one. A few took more than 1 time listing. but within a month they were all gone.
I currently do not have any cd's except for the blank ones that I put music on from the computer to play in the truck. I miss the sleeves & artwork. But not that much.
Wow. Now THAT is burning your bridges and to hell with it...although at least you backed them up.
Terry
12-14-2010, 08:26 PM
Netflix is gonna end up going the same way in a few years.
The company has already stated that they're looking to have all their services transmitted totally online for their customers, meaning no more sending discs in the mail, by a roughly 2014 target date. So basically they will be out of the "rent dvds via the mail" biz not too long from now.
Pretty fucked up when the technology is moving so fast that dvds are already being talked about as bordering on the obsolete...hell, I'm still converting my vhs tapes to dvd format!
Kristy
12-14-2010, 09:57 PM
The CD is the latest technological dinosaur to fall by the wayside. And I still find it a surprise that the eggheads at EMI suddenly took wind of this and released The Beatles catalog on iShit. Soon music will be available only on pre-loaded chips (or something similar) where all you do is plug and play. Sort of a sad state, really when I see people like my niece (who is only 16) who thinks the CD is "a pain to use" simply because you have to insert the disc into a player instead of pressing a button and instantaneously hearing noise. Now what you have is a generation that doesn't care about music anymore; they see it as a disposable entertainment commodity rather than something their generation can identify itself with.
Seshmeister
12-14-2010, 10:06 PM
Netflix is gonna end up going the same way in a few years.
The company has already stated that they're looking to have all their services transmitted totally online for their customers, meaning no more sending discs in the mail, by a roughly 2014 target date. So basically they will be out of the "rent dvds via the mail" biz not too long from now.
Pretty fucked up when the technology is moving so fast that dvds are already being talked about as bordering on the obsolete...hell, I'm still converting my vhs tapes to dvd format!
Yeah I was thinking that as I was ordering the now customary DVD box set presents for Xmas tonight. 2 years of this to go? Maybe 3 tops? Even cheap TV's are now appearing with USB connections as standard.
Plus I'm doing this with box sets of 24 and The Wire sitting here, neither of which I've even got around to watching the first season of, not to mention the huge James Bond Collectors Edition which is now in the attic unopened.
Apparently there is a plan the SM and her girlfriends are going to do the Sopranos box set starting in January which is one of the few great shows in recent time I actually managed to see all of by the old fashioned method of turning on the TV and watching it each week when it was on.
I just checked and it's 4675 minutes long!
ELVIS
12-14-2010, 10:20 PM
I still like to have a hard copy of my media, although I don't collect movies or TV shows, just music related material...
chefcraig
12-14-2010, 10:26 PM
...Sort of a sad state, really when I see people like my niece (who is only 16) who thinks the CD is "a pain to use" simply because you have to insert the disc into a player instead of pressing a button and instantaneously hearing noise. Now what you have is a generation that doesn't care about music anymore; they see it as a disposable entertainment commodity rather than something their generation can identify itself with.
Whoah...that really is a sweeping generalization based upon the behavior of one person, don't you think? Yes, music is more available than ever before. Think of that. You no longer have to go out and purchase an lp (at $9.99) or a cd (for a while there, at $17.99) to find out a band or an artist really stinks. Is there some sort of nobility in that?
Music has always been a "disposable entertainment commodity", no different from tv or movies. The sticking point is the true artists that exist within the forms that make the endeavor worthwhile. And just as they had in the past, those worthy will continue to rise to the top, just as equally (if not more) talented folks will be ignored.
It all comes down to distribution, and how it is carried out. This is no different now than it was 5 or 15 years ago. Yeah, the medium of transference has changed. In the eighties, those without cable had to wait until Friday night to watch NBC's video show to learn what was hot. Now, a person can go to Youtube to see an artist's latest live performance.
What's the big deal? It either blows or it doesn't. That much has not changed. The only difference is the packaging. And if it only makes things easier, where is the problem?
Kristy
12-14-2010, 10:28 PM
Which goes to show that some things never die. Seems the music video is alive & kicking*
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*Really I just wanted to post this because I like the song. Strange, since I never was much of a big fan of Danzing/Misfits but always wanted to be Glenn's Mistress so I could beat him black and blue each night before bed time. Bad thing is Glenn is looking like a cross between Elvis and a Ian Astbury/Morrison morph. Good thing is you can still fuck to his records. Good to see him back.
ELVIS
12-14-2010, 10:31 PM
Too bad Danzig is still alive and kicking...
Nitro Express
12-14-2010, 10:32 PM
The CD is the latest technological dinosaur to fall by the wayside. And I still find it a surprise that the eggheads at EMI suddenly took wind of this and released The Beatles catalog on iShit. Soon music will be available only on pre-loaded chips (or something similar) where all you do is plug and play. Sort of a sad state, really when I see people like my niece (who is only 16) who thinks the CD is "a pain to use" simply because you have to insert the disc into a player instead of pressing a button and instantaneously hearing noise. Now what you have is a generation that doesn't care about music anymore; they see it as a disposable entertainment commodity rather than something their generation can identify itself with.
I remember when I was in high school we would buy the LP records and then make Maxell or TDK tape recordings to play. When the tapes wore out you just made another one. I remember when CD's came out and they charged twice the price for the CD. I never really liked CD's. The sound quality had less noise but lost the dynamics of analog recording. The players seemed to break a lot and portable CD players sucked. MP3's are much better. What's cool is you can buy the songs you like without having to buy a whole album.
Around here I don't see kids not appreciating music. All the kids in our neighborhood play instruments. The kid next door plays the trombone. All three of my daughters play instruments (Piano, clarinet, saxophone, and guitar).
If anything the digital music makes your computer one big music store and library. Young kids are discovering old music because they have easy access to it. What I miss about the LP's was the album art and KISS always had something in their albums that was cool. The anticipation of a new VH album and then seeing the display in the store was always cool. I remember seeing all those smoking angels and laughing and getting me some 1984!
Nitro Express
12-14-2010, 10:33 PM
If anything, shopping has become less fun.
chefcraig
12-14-2010, 10:37 PM
Too bad Danzig is still alive and kicking...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t-ZVMGobls
Kristy
12-14-2010, 10:37 PM
Whoah...that really is a sweeping generalization based upon the behavior of one person, don't you think? Yes, music is more available than ever before. Think of that. You no longer have to go out and purchase an lp (at $9.99) or a cd (for a while there, at $17.99) to find out a band or an artist really stinks. Is there some sort of nobility in that?
In generalization terms, yes. Ask most kids in a 14 to 21 (or so) age group if they rather have a CD or a iGoons gift card for the same monetary value. Most will take the card. That is why music is more available - not in terms if it is any good or that you're getting the same product at a discounted price simply because you can "download" it. And while you can make the case that music has always been disposable (mostly by design) my point was there is little identifying with an album anymore. I suspect that you're a part of a generation that grew up on the Van Halen heyday but ask a kid now if their first record means the same to them as it does to you and you'll be surprised at the answer.
chefcraig
12-14-2010, 10:47 PM
I suspect that you're a part of a generation that grew up on the Val Halen heyday but ask a kid now if their first record means the same to them as it does to you and you'll be surprised at the answer.
No, I would not be, because I'm not willing to put my own expectations of music upon others. As a result, I honestly don't have a preconceived answer in mind. Hell, when I was a kid, asking older people about music more often than not resulted in songs, not albums. Crap, you only bought the albums cause you could not find the single! Why should it be any different now?
Kristy
12-14-2010, 10:47 PM
And go easy on Danzing. He's the last true rock 'n' roll cartoon left.
Seshmeister
12-14-2010, 10:51 PM
I do think a whole genre of gifts is disappearing.
You wouldn't give a download as a Xmas present so no music or video. Giving a voucher always seems a bit thoughtless.
Kristy
12-14-2010, 10:55 PM
No, I would not be, because I'm not willing to put my own expectations of music upon others. As a result, I honestly don't have a preconceived answer in mind. Hell, when I was a kid, asking older people about music more often than not resulted in songs, not albums. Crap, you only bought the albums cause you could not find the single! Why should it be any different now?
It has nothing to do with expectations or even a personal bias upon others. And what you said there is a little bit key: people bought music and therefore identified with it as having a value whether the music itself was any good or not.
Too bad Danzig is still alive and kicking...
At least he doesn't sing like a chipmunk on helium. Or look like a KISS reject.
Which goes to show that some things never die. Seems the music video is alive & kicking*
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*Really I just wanted to post this because I like the song. Strange, since I never was much of a big fan of Danzing/Misfits but always wanted to be Glenn's Mistress so I could beat him black and blue each night before bed time. Bad thing is Glenn is looking like a cross between Elvis and a Ian Astbury/Morrison morph. Good thing is you can still fuck to his records. Good to see him back.
Good to hear Glenn back to the classic "Danzig" sound, after getting lost in the nu-metal shit for a while. His current band ain't exactly John/Eerie/Chuck, but they're alright. That song reminds me a little of "Devil's Plaything" for some reason.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvJYlwDnMQg
Seshmeister
12-14-2010, 11:15 PM
At least he doesn't sing like a chipmunk on helium. Or look like a KISS reject.
Take it from someone that knows, Alvin and the Chipmunks II: The Squeakquel was not a fun way to spend a couple of hours
Take it from someone that knows, Alvin and the Chipmunks II: The Squeakquel was not a fun way to spend a couple of hours
Hell, I never even liked the Chipmunks cartoons when I was a kid. I had a couple of their records, but the TV show bored me for some reason. Can't imagine sitting through the movies.
Nitro Express
12-14-2010, 11:39 PM
Hell, I never even liked the Chipmunks cartoons when I was a kid. I had a couple of their records, but the TV show bored me for some reason. Can't imagine sitting through the movies.
I never liked them either. It sounded like some dude talking to kids on helium.
Steve Savicki
12-14-2010, 11:40 PM
Guess a dozen new CDs for a penny wouldn't last forever.
Like yer thoughts Elv about maintaining hard copies.
You still have your vinyl?
sadaist
12-14-2010, 11:54 PM
Very lucrative idea. Do buy music online or steal it? (just curious)
Neither...any more.
I used to buy my music. Album, tape, cd. But 7 years ago I burned all of my store bought cd's to the computer. In the last 7 years I have not obtained any new music cause I had pretty much everything I liked. There has not been anything in the last 7 years that I have heard that made me want to buy the cd (or download it).
If Van Halen releases a cd, I'll buy it & put on to my computer. Then probably just stick the cd in the truck with all my self-burned ones and toss the jewel case.
* Wait. A friend emailed me a couple songs from the Megadeth album Engame when that came out. Attached as files to an email, and I have those still. So I guess that's kinda the same as downloading illegally since it was free for me. But I can't think of anything else.
Nitro Express
12-15-2010, 12:02 AM
In generalization terms, yes. Ask most kids in a 14 to 21 (or so) age group if they rather have a CD or a iGoons gift card for the same monetary value. Most will take the card. That is why music is more available - not in terms if it is any good or that you're getting the same product at a discounted price simply because you can "download" it. And while you can make the case that music has always been disposable (mostly by design) my point was there is little identifying with an album anymore. I suspect that you're a part of a generation that grew up on the Van Halen heyday but ask a kid now if their first record means the same to them as it does to you and you'll be surprised at the answer.
Interesting point. I bought my first album in second grade and paid for it with my own money I earned from shoveling snow. I just had to own that Bennie and the Jet's song. I still have that album in my collection.
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Seshmeister
12-15-2010, 01:51 AM
Hell, I never even liked the Chipmunks cartoons when I was a kid. I had a couple of their records, but the TV show bored me for some reason. Can't imagine sitting through the movies.
The worst bit was when your mother would leave you in the car for ages whilst she went into ChipNDales club...
Terry
12-15-2010, 08:28 PM
The CD is the latest technological dinosaur to fall by the wayside. And I still find it a surprise that the eggheads at EMI suddenly took wind of this and released The Beatles catalog on iShit. Soon music will be available only on pre-loaded chips (or something similar) where all you do is plug and play. Sort of a sad state, really when I see people like my niece (who is only 16) who thinks the CD is "a pain to use" simply because you have to insert the disc into a player instead of pressing a button and instantaneously hearing noise. Now what you have is a generation that doesn't care about music anymore; they see it as a disposable entertainment commodity rather than something their generation can identify itself with.
Most music released in the last decade IS a disposable entertainment commodity...much of it barely worth preserving on cd, much less a microchip.
Some records still, imo, sound better on vinyl.
Nitro Express
12-15-2010, 08:55 PM
The good news is Lady Gaga will be soon forgotten.
The good news is Lady Gaga will be soon forgotten.
Yeah, that's what I said about Titney Spears and Justin Timberfuck in 1998. Sadly, they're still around.
Used to be the plastic corporate teen idols had a maximum shelf life of 2 years. Now that 99% of the music on the charts IS plastic corporate teen idols, they get longer careers.
No wonder Leif Garrett can't get off the smack - he really got the shaft. He and Shaun Cassidy were the last of the true bubblegummers who got in and got out before their fans noticed how bad their records were.
Diamondjimi
12-16-2010, 12:30 AM
No wonder Leif Garrett can't get off the smack - he really got the shaft. He and Shaun Cassidy were the last of the true bubblegummers who got in and got out before their fans noticed how bad their records were.
Todays manufactured monkeys find it hard to walk away from a fool and his money......
Soon as Bieber's nuts drop, his career will be over. The clock is ticking......
Todays manufactured monkeys find it hard to walk away from a fool and his money......
Soon as Bieber's nuts drop, his career will be over. The clock is ticking......
Unless old Joe Jackson becomes his manager. Then he'll be shot up with estrogen and keep his little boy voice forever. Until he dies in his 50's as a washed up drugged out pedobear.
(That's really not a fair comparison. Michael -despite his weirdness- actually had talent)
Nitro Express
12-16-2010, 04:56 AM
Yeah, that's what I said about Titney Spears and Justin Timberfuck in 1998. Sadly, they're still around.
Used to be the plastic corporate teen idols had a maximum shelf life of 2 years. Now that 99% of the music on the charts IS plastic corporate teen idols, they get longer careers.
No wonder Leif Garrett can't get off the smack - he really got the shaft. He and Shaun Cassidy were the last of the true bubblegummers who got in and got out before their fans noticed how bad their records were.
I haven't heard or seen Timberlake for years. Britney got more press because she is a train wreck and that makes the news. I did see an ad for her new perfume on TV tonight. Miley Cyrus gets more attention now but she's not the big star Brit and Christina were.
BITEYOASS
12-16-2010, 09:59 AM
Soon as Bieber's nuts drop, his career will be over. The clock is ticking......
Well fuck you very much for bringing that hermaphrodite down to the states. BAD CANADA! Go back to your room when you come up with a kick-ass metal band! :biggrin: LOL
GreenBayLA
12-17-2010, 05:16 AM
I was a Columbia House member in 1977 and later RCA. I bought my minimum and quit.
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bueno bob
12-17-2010, 11:27 AM
Ahh...the days of Columbia House. 12 CDs for a penny, but I usually finished up my obligation to buy x amount over the next several months at regular prices before I quit. And joined again immediately thereafter for another 12 CDs for a penny. Or started an account under my dog, my cat or my non-existent siblings. Of course, after you got the 12 for a penny, you could always just contact them and tell them that the CDs never arrived, too.
Kinda miss it, but I understand the business decision. It IS obsolete. Won't be long until used CD shops start getting the hint too...I can't count the amount of times I've driven past the used music stores here in town and seen no cars at all in the parking lot, or the amount of times I've wandered in at 8 PM at night and been the only non-employee in there.
Already it's almost impossible to find a pawn shop that sells used CDs. Brave new world is upon us, I guess.
chefcraig
12-17-2010, 02:09 PM
Ahh...the days of Columbia House. 12 CDs for a penny, but I usually finished up my obligation to buy x amount over the next several months at regular prices before I quit. And joined again immediately thereafter for another 12 CDs for a penny. Or started an account under my dog, my cat or my non-existent siblings. Of course, after you got the 12 for a penny, you could always just contact them and tell them that the CDs never arrived, too.
What always sucked was the "If you would like the selection of the month, do nothing, as it will be shipped to you automatically" part. This was before UPS or even the U.S. mail made shipping stuff from your home a convenience. Back then it was a trip to the post office, which even today requires several hours of time invested. So you wound up keeping the damned thing, and shoving it to the back of your record collection. The album would be forgotten until one of your friends went through your stack and asked you why in hell you had a copy of Helen Reddy's greatest hits and the latest Tony Orlando & Dawn release.
Already it's almost impossible to find a pawn shop that sells used CDs. Brave new world is upon us, I guess.
The situation sucks. A handful of stores (like F.Y.E) locally sell used CDs, but the pricing is absurd. All of the independents closed their doors here over three years ago, about the time that Best Buy was diminishing their CD section to about 1/5 it's original size. Is it any wonder that artists are now setting up deals for exclusive distribution through Wal Mart?
Yeah, they usually would send you something that really sucked ass if you didn't preemptively tell them not to. It did work out in my favor one time, when their "selection of the month" was a 2 disc Roy Buchanan compilation. I honestly had never heard of the guy before, so I took a chance and actually listened to it when it showed up unrequested. I decided to keep it. Didn't pay the bastards for it though, because the law says you don't have to pay for anything that you didn't actually ask to be mailed to you.
Jagermeister
12-17-2010, 03:18 PM
Well they had to make some money off you some how after tricking you in with, what was it.,12 free records or tapes of your choice.
Kristy
12-17-2010, 09:40 PM
Some records still, imo, sound better on vinyl.
I agree. And this one comes to mind.
http://www.sikworld.com/artofmetal/T-Rex-Electric_Warrior.jpg
I used to smoke a lot of pot to that record.
Hardrock69
12-18-2010, 03:10 AM
One cool accident happened in 1973 or so. My Dad would order stuff through the RCA record club like Johnny Cash and Don Williams. I guess they sent him the selection of the month one time and it was Led Zeppelin II on 8-track. I guess he did not want to hassle with returning it, so he sold it to ME. I did not yet have an 8-track player, but he did...in his pickup truck. So I would go out in the driveway and turn that bitch UP! The following year I got one of those combination record player AM/FM Radio 8-track player stereos for my birthday. I joined the Clodumbia Tape And Ripoff Club (YES I SPELLED IT RIGHT, SO FUCK OFF! :hee: ), and let's see.....I ordered the entire catalog by Chicago on 8-track. The Carnegie Hall album counted as 2 selections. This was right about 1973/74. I saw Chicago in concert the spring of 1974. First time my parents let me go to a concert by myself. By 1977 though I had switched to cassette.
8-tracks sounded great, but I hated the fact that the fucking things would fade out in the middle of a song just to switch tracks.
I also had Black Sabbath's Paranoid album in Quadraphonic format 8-track. Had a different mix of War Pigs on it. :D
I still have my entire cassette collection. I have been spending MUCH time transferring VHS to DVD. Then I need to transfer my tapes to CD. Yeah I know. I should just record them as wave files. What the fuck. Still stuck in the past, lol.
The album in the late 70s I smoked the most pot to was Pink Floyd Dark Side Of The Moon..
I wonder if anyone has ever asked the members of Pink Floyd how it feels to be responsible for a rather sizable population of the Earth? I mean, THE thing to do from 1973 until whenever back in the 70s was to smoke pot and fuck. That album is really responsible for a lot of people being born! :biggrin:
Nickdfresh
12-18-2010, 03:20 AM
The CD is the latest technological dinosaur to fall by the wayside.....
It's not the CD so much as the shitty business practices of involuntarily sending people CDs unsolicited in hopes they won't send it back so you can charge them for it...
chefcraig
12-18-2010, 06:53 AM
I also had Black Sabbath's Paranoid album in Quadraphonic format 8-track. Had a different mix of War Pigs on it. :D
Some of those quad mixes were really bizarre. In the mid-seventies, the general idea was to spread the music around four speakers, giving a surround sound-effect. This was a popular effect in movie theaters at the time, yet rarely worked properly given that theater owners were reluctant to invest in the state of the art sound systems required to pull it off. For home use, the systems would come with a demonstration record that featured a man speaking while "walking" around the room, evidenced by the sound of his footsteps traveling from speaker to speaker.
But for some reason, whomever was in charge of the quad mixes of albums (basically stereo mixes adapted/expanded onto more tracks) would screw up the timing of segments of a song. Like the aforementioned "footsteps", parts of the music (guitar solos, percussion, keyboards, bass parts, vocals ect.) would appear too early or late within the overall context of the tune, leading to some disorientating effects. For instance, the descending synth solo in the Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein" would start before it was supposed to, would fade and then reappear after it was called for. The guitar solo in the live version of KISS' "RRAN" would begin and end several bars before it's rightful place in the song, leaving a segment where the rest of the band continued with no solo at all. Considering these examples were of music performed by relatively straight-ahead rock bands, one can only imagine how the works of more complex artists were effected.
Kristy
12-18-2010, 11:58 AM
It's not the CD so much as the shitty business practices of involuntarily sending people CDs unsolicited in hopes they won't send it back so you can charge them for it...
I'm talking the CD itself. Walk in to any shitty major chain store that still carries them and see how the racks have dwindled; iTunes gift cards have replaced many of the bin vacancies. Turn on the radio (for what that is worth) and you're hearing music in a Mp3 format programmed by satellite. The CD had lost its place in the entertainment world becoming more and more of a data storage (and that's been replaced by DVD) and less and less of media enjoyment.
Nitro Express
12-18-2010, 12:20 PM
I smoked a lot of pot to this. Still have the album on vinyl and of course those album covers were great at getting rid of the seeds. Wash the resin down with some Myers dark. Owwwww!
Nitro Express
12-18-2010, 12:21 PM
You can't roll a joint on an MP3.
Nitro Express
12-18-2010, 12:27 PM
Some of those quad mixes were really bizarre. In the mid-seventies, the general idea was to spread the music around four speakers, giving a surround sound-effect. This was a popular effect in movie theaters at the time, yet rarely worked properly given that theater owners were reluctant to invest in the state of the art sound systems required to pull it off. For home use, the systems would come with a demonstration record that featured a man speaking while "walking" around the room, evidenced by the sound of his footsteps traveling from speaker to speaker.
But for some reason, whomever was in charge of the quad mixes of albums (basically stereo mixes adapted/expanded onto more tracks) would screw up the timing of segments of a song. Like the aforementioned "footsteps", parts of the music (guitar solos, percussion, keyboards, bass parts, vocals ect.) would appear too early or late within the overall context of the tune, leading to some disorientating effects. For instance, the descending synth solo in the Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein" would start before it was supposed to, would fade and then reappear after it was called for. The guitar solo in the live version of KISS' "RRAN" would begin and end several bars before it's rightful place in the song, leaving a segment where the rest of the band continued with no solo at all. Considering these examples were of music performed by relatively straight-ahead rock bands, one can only imagine how the works of more complex artists were effected.
My dad was an audiophile an had a great stereo. McIntosh preamps and power amps with four six foot electrostatic speakers in all four corners of a big living room with a vaulted ceiling. It sounded great and I loved to crank Rush's Witch Hunt on it. It just sounded HUGE! The problem with such a system is it showed the weakness of digital recording. Where the analog recording sounded dynamic and lush, the digital recording sounded thin. If you don't have good recordings a good stereo just amplified the shit.
kwame k
12-18-2010, 12:33 PM
But for some reason, whomever was in charge of the quad mixes of albums (basically stereo mixes adapted/expanded onto more tracks) would screw up the timing of segments of a song. Like the aforementioned "footsteps", parts of the music (guitar solos, percussion, keyboards, bass parts, vocals ect.) would appear too early or late within the overall context of the tune, leading to some disorientating effects. For instance, the descending synth solo in the Edgar Winter Group's "Frankenstein" would start before it was supposed to, would fade and then reappear after it was called for. The guitar solo in the live version of KISS' "RRAN" would begin and end several bars before it's rightful place in the song, leaving a segment where the rest of the band continued with no solo at all. Considering these examples were of music performed by relatively straight-ahead rock bands, one can only imagine how the works of more complex artists were effected.
Very interesting, Craig.
I always thought that was track bleed from the analog multi-track recorders.......like Led Zep's Whole Lotta Love, at the break.
I smoked a lot of pot to this.....
So did Bob! http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4Oemk1K7Szo/S8Nc_g8g0TI/AAAAAAAAAb4/bk9Wtf8qscI/S724/BobRasta.gif
Mr. Vengeance
12-19-2010, 06:03 PM
I'm sorry, but this whole online download thing bugs me. It's fucking killed the music industry. People will always opt for free over paying for shit. Bands have no shot, since companies only care about getting a pop hit, that kids will download.
There's no better memory of my youth than sitting in the big chair with the giant headphones on, with the jacket from a good old vinyl album, listening to an ENTIRE album.
Fuck technology!
Hardrock69
12-19-2010, 10:04 PM
For all of the reasons above, I agree.
And rolling joints on an album cover is one thing that was cool about the pre-CD culture.
:stoned-smiley:
Nitro Express
12-19-2010, 10:13 PM
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You can't do this with an MP3.
Terry
12-19-2010, 10:14 PM
My dad was an audiophile an had a great stereo. McIntosh preamps and power amps with four six foot electrostatic speakers in all four corners of a big living room with a vaulted ceiling. It sounded great and I loved to crank Rush's Witch Hunt on it. It just sounded HUGE! The problem with such a system is it showed the weakness of digital recording. Where the analog recording sounded dynamic and lush, the digital recording sounded thin. If you don't have good recordings a good stereo just amplified the shit.
There's just a lack of depth to so much of what comes out today, in terms of basic audio and sonics.
Everything sounds so perfect and (agree 100%) thin. There's no density of sound...the gradual shift from acoustic drums to electronic beats is where it all started to go to shit. Even with ostensible rock bands these days, it's all so metronomically syncopated you can practically hear the click track on the tunes.
No soul.
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