Earlier today, I was talking to a friend about the store that sells used CDs that’s on the way to my parents’ place. It is honestly, one of my favorite places there is. Then I came home and was catching up on Metal Excess, only to see that he’s summed up what I’ve always felt about buying music.
There’s something fascinating about having that physical object. To some degree, it’s like being a trophy hunter; filling that giant CD tower or the shelf of LPs with the best of your favorite bands is much like the fisherman putting the prize marlin above the fireplace. You went out, hunted successfully, and returned home with your trophy.
Like he said over at Metal Excess, buying it from iTunes doesn’t feel real. You can’t hold it in your hands, and reading liner notes (assuming you even get liner notes, which usually isn’t the case) on a computer monitor is not the same. One of my favorite sets of liner notes is in Richie Sambora’s Stranger in this Town. They’re full of gorgeous pictures of Richie, along with the lyrics to all of the songs. I can remember sticking that CD in the player and just listening to it, with the liner notes unfolded across the floor in front of me, following along and taking it all in. Try that with a computer monitor. It was part of the experience of that album–something I could hold in my hands. The acknowledgments that give a little window into the creation of the album, the ability to follow the lyrics, the opportunity to ogle some extra pix–all that is lost in a digital format.
Plus, in my case, I have a Zune. Now, I love the Zune interface, I find it to be intuitive and very easy to use, but forget about looking at cover art on the screen on that thing. It’s the size of a postage stamp, and the cover art display in the Zune software isn’t much bigger. Something like an iPod Touch and iTunes might be a bit better, but still not that good. It’s bad enough what the small format of CDs has done to cover art. Once bands start designing for the screens of MP3 players, it’s all over as far as cover art is concerned. At that point it’ll just turn into head shots. Bon Jovi would survive just fine in that world–after all, Jon Bon Jovi is about as photogenic as a band frontman gets. But what about guys like Meat Loaf, or Dio? They aren’t exactly pretty boys. But the cover art of their albums? Masterpieces. If I could find an LP of Bat Out Of Hell in good condition, I’d frame it and stick it up on the wall.
Personally, I think losing cover art is going to be a blow. I mean, look at the world that was created for Brutal Legend. All of that was inspired by cover art from heavy metal, but that kind of art probably won’t ever be created again. Cover art is going to end up being one of the shortest-lived forms of art there has ever been. Kind of like the stereotypical image of a rock star–live fast, die young. Someday they’ll exhibit album cover art at the Guggenheim–and mourn its early demise.
In the meantime though, I intend to continue expanding my music collection the old school way. Besides, if I buy used CDs, they’re still cheaper than iTunes.