is the music in the medium

I was thinking about all the music I have devoured and loved over the course of the first 46 years on this planet. I got to remembering the old record stores, (like the one I worked at in Daytona Beach when I was 18) the CD big box stores and the advent of Napster. I really see a correlation (a complete generalization mind you) between the medium the music was delivered on and the status of the music industry and very essence of the music creation machine itself.

Go with me if you will. In the late sixties and seventies we had vinyl. Black and rich with large canvases for musical works and graphics. The large space and dark rich texture of that medium seem to be infused into the creations of the times. Warm and dark recordings made in small places with history and tradition and devotion to the muse. Abbey Road, Hitsville, the Record Plant and others. Dark and deep and full of sounds and wonder. Think about the music we love from that time regardless of genre and maybe you can see what I mean.

Then came 8tracks and cassettes. The first ever truly portable music. For the first time we would only listen to something until WE were done doing something ELSE at the same time - driving somewhere. For the first time we did not allow the records to dictate our time spent with them, but we controlled them and set them to a backseat. I believe this changed how music was conceived and created.

When the hard and shiny plastic of CDs became the medium we got hard shiny plastic music. Calculated by some bean counter in a high rise to extract the most dollars out of consumers. Hard and cold and digital. So often, with no soul and no connection just like the new heads of labels who were no longer really music fans and record men, but accountants and lawyers.

Then came the Internet age and now we have bits. Digital pieces scattered all over the world which represents the exact state of the industry. Scattered all over the place, stylistically, economically and while completely accessible, no longer a collective social experience. Millions of songs made by millions of people, mostly available online. Some are great expressions of art like back in the glory days of vinyl and some are calculated and cold like the CD era. It's up to you to discover them and make your own mind up.

I don't long for the past at all. In fact I have found and enjoyed more new music in the last 8 years than in the previous 20. Not as formative or classic, but then again I am not a teenager or even under 30. It's o.k. We are were we are and in a lot of ways it is back to the very earliest days of recorded music, with little known about the future of distribution or monetary compensation. It's all about the music again I hope.

I am excited about bands going out and changing the world and making some new friends along the way. Thats why we are helping get bands to fans! see you on the road.