I’m quite proud to say that I’m a complete technophobe. I don’t own an iPod or any kind of MP3 player. I buy vinyl because firstly, it looks nicer, and secondly, is infinitely more trustworthy. My records have never corrupted and my record player, nearing on 20 years old, has never broken down, crashed, been unable to read a file… once.
That said, I’m not anti-MP3 at all. Some exciting developments have come from the format, what with Radiohead giving away their album away for free and the like. However, aside from new releases and those young’uns out there who deal almost solely in downloads, I don’t really see the point of bands releasing their back catalogue on MP3.
The news that Led Zeppelin and the solo work of The Beatles’ was to be released through iTunes has been met with some excitement… but why? The fact that this is happening, in itself, is of no concern to me. What puzzles me is that people who are a little older will invariably already own these albums and, as such, will have ripped them to their computers already. The kids, who maybe discovered Led Zep’s work (for example) via their parents, will no doubt have pinched Dad’s CDs and stuck them on their own computers or MP3 players. So what is the need for the heralding of yet another format for an old band?

Of course, I can see that a band will want to stay current and not be left behind in the world of audiophilia. However, The Beatles aren’t on iTunes yet… but I hardly think that anyone is all that worried by it. In the ’80s, everyone got in a fluster as the dawn of a new technology was born with The Fab Four’s back catalogue going digital on CD. Of course, this was a great bit of business as it gave the record companies the chance to flog albums that everyone already owned all over again.
As I’ve said, I have no problem with the existence of the MP3 format… but I do feel that sometimes it’s all a bit pointless. Many won’t admit to it, but they’ll happily pinch older music from sites like Limewire and Soulseek as opposed to forking out £7 for an album. I’m not going to go into the morals of that (as we’ll be here all day) but that’s the truth. There are so many ways of getting a Paul McCartney LP onto your computer that it seems like going to iTunes is almost a last resort.
Also, iTunes still largely caters for the mainstream. One of the things I thought MP3s would gun for is making rare and obscure titles available which are out of print. It makes sense to pay for an MP3 that may be going for £200 at a record fair. You want it, now it’s available. However, the heralding of the Led Zep back catalogue leaves me wondering just how worthwhile it all is. The one-stop ‘buy everything they ever released with one payment’ option is a clever one, but as I’m old-school, I’d still rather get down the shops and walk out with an armfull of records…

Possibly related:

1. The Beatles’ “Carnival Of Light” will be interminable nonsense, you watch

2. Sony’s Blu-Ray audio arrives just as CDs become coasters/frisbees/mirrors

3. As more Beatles songs are licensed for advertising, which UK ad campaigns could they soundtrack?

4. Radiohead time their iTunes hook-up perfectly

5. Scientists looking to steal your Beatles-related memories for their own nefarious purposes

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Thursday October 25th, 2007 at 1:16 pm