I.
Because of recent feedback on Phree (you know who you are) I'm taking another swing at getting some writing going here. I've gone so far as to allocate myself a budget for 2010 of $100 for digital downloads from new stores for reviews. Given that my total project budget for 2010 is $500 this is a substantial commitment. Now I just need to keep myself off Rhapsody and Amazon to keep the total music budget under control.
II.
Here's a devious little budget-stretcher: reporting the decision not to make a purchase. Case in point. Okay, I feel like a little bit of a dick breaking this one down, seeing as how they're aiming to save the planet and all. Maybe I'm a little jaded at this point about organizations that are capable of uttering the phrase "save the planet" without irony. Not to get sidetracked by the specifics of the charity in question, however: my issues here are design and user interface decisions and some underlying assumptions.
1. You better get some toilet paper 'cause your artwork is butt.
If you're Corporate Whoredogs Incorporated I guess it's just part of the parcel that your artwork will be some sort of generic design atrocity. Planet saving nonprofits I expect to scrounge up some real art. I have to look at that shit every time I play the album.
2. Hubris.
The headline on the description of this album is INTRODUCING WHAT IS QUITE POSSIBLY THE MOST IMPORTANT ALBUM EVER MADE. Inane hyperbole does not endear me to your cause.
3. Gone in 30 seconds.
Maybe it's not their fault, the byzantine requirements of the recording business being what they are. I don't even care anymore: seriously, the 30 second preview has got to go. You might as well not have any preview at all, save yourself some bandwidth. Once upon a time the listening room was a standard amenity of the record store - despite the fact that providing "full preview" literally physically degraded the media. Imagine how record sales would have reacted if store proprietors had habitually elbowed their way into the listening room, jammed the needle down wherever in the middle of a track, and then ripped the headphones off customers' heads after 30 seconds. Because that is the experience of the 30 second preview.
4. I bet they think this price point is a no-brainer
The cost of the album is the always inspiring $.99 per track OR a mere $9.99 for all 41 songs. I can't stress this enough: the order-of-magnitude paradigm of Compact Disc era pricing is no longer compelling. As a reminder: I just paid less than three dollars for 35 above-average tracks by Neil Young, one of the greatest living singer-songwriters in America. It is time to start taking heed of what Mr. Eno is saying (we'll get to it soon): we are selling whale blubber here in the era of the Model T. Catch up.
Fix all that and maybe I'll consider buying Volume 2. I do see that I've got yet another music service enterprise with a doofy name to check out. Seriously, "Nimbit"? What the fuck people.
III.
You could do a lot worse with 10 or 15 minutes of your time than to read this short article and interview with Brian Eno. Not least so you can find out what all the blubber talk is about.
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