Comments on: After CDs. What’s next?

By: Ben Walker

Ben Walker — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:22:35 +0000

I’ve just posted a response to this on my blog, by way of an example of somebody getting the post-Album format right: The Beatles Complete On Ukulele: what was so good about The Album anyway?

I don’t think for a second that the producers behind the project (Roger and Dave) have found the perfect format, but they have shown that if you think about the listener’s experience when creating your delivery channels you can make something peculiar to your project that does everything The Album used to do.

@Charlie: I love the idea of being able to turn the bass off and play along, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a resurgence of “official” sheet music and tab too (to be downloaded with the music or on the artist’s website). I’ve definitely been playing with the idea.

By: Charlie Harris

Charlie Harris — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:07:06 +0000

I have had this idea banging around my head for a couple of years and that is to also release the tracks as 4-channel or 8-channel tracks for the music fan in addition to the 2-track mix. Also include music notation and a tutorial on how to play the songs on the cd or whatever format. Show how to play the song, you could then play along with the “band” as it were.

For example, if you were (gasp) a bassist, you could turn the bass track off and play along. Do the same with other instruments.

By: Pär Berglund

Pär Berglund — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:27:53 +0000

Totally agree with you Steve that Last.fm is a fantastic way to discover new music and have a great musical journey.
But there is no reason why different approaches couldn’t coexist.
The metadata is an opportunity from the artists point of view to create a wider experience. Maybe my examples lacked fantasy; it could of course contain anything linkable or downloadable, like video, art, text and more.

By: Steve Clark

Steve Clark — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:46:50 +0000

Pär, I do something like that with last.fm. It suggests artists you might like based on the listening habits of other people. I expect Spotify and other can do the same. I listen a lot to the last.fm ‘Neighbour’ radio. I find it gives more variety than ‘Recommended’, but I end up skipping a few from outside my comfort zone.

I think the social data collection may work better than metadata as that could limit you to certain genres. A lot of music doesn’t fall into the standard genres anyway.

By: Pär Berglund

Pär Berglund — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:46:06 +0000

What I come to think of is the extension of the track itself. The metadata, independent of the environment. “First time you listen to Steve Lawson?”, “well click here and this is his best picks”.
“You, like this music, well click here and listen to others in the same genre, my pick”
A dynamic approach with metadata, as you suggested above. Downloadable or streamable of your choice. An endless journey….

By: Gordon

Gordon — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:08:04 +0000

Steve,

“Chocolates in a posh box” is a handy analogy as it suggests that there are different ways to consume the commodity. Mars bars and handmade Belgian chocolates are perceived very differently from each other by the consumer and are packaged to reflect that.

Maybe this is where the CD makers will find themselves in future, packaging the music in whatever format prevails.

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:51:39 +0000

Gordon,

Yous point about “digital sleeve notes/artwork” is a key one. I’m amazed that Apple haven’t added something like this to coverflow yet, especially given how heavily they advertised the iPhone’s coverflow features. Hopefully someone else will develop an open format for attaching image libraries to MP3s. Til then, I guess artwork is part of the physical up-sell. You do a version of the collection of music that comes in some kind of physical container (CD, LP, memory stick etc.) and package it beautifully. Like putting chocolates in a posh box

By: steve

steve — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:39:06 +0000

definitely – I was more meaning ‘after CD stops defining how we think about collections of music’ – the way the digital realm frees us from that.

CD will survive, as vinyl has, as DCC ha…oh, wait…

By: friedrich glorian

friedrich glorian — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:42:54 +0000

cool and brilliant, steve… and definitively not to forget the pleasure of enjoying full blast live performances of any style, music, dance, theater, on audio and video formats.

By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:26:12 +0000

I agree very much with the above posts!

Also, no one seems to have mentioned the cost benefits of digital formats- the abolition of scarcity.
Perhaps that seems too obvious!
But in reference to your quality comments, it costs just as little to bounce something as a 98kbp/s, 24 bit file as a low quality file!
And for clear reasons, CDs cost more.

The only ‘issue’ with that is virtual space… And by the end of this year 50% of us will be carrying around portable one to two terabyte hard drives. Problem solved!

Brilliant post, don’t know how you manage to write so much in quick succession!