What a sad world.....
absolutely.
especially evident from the discourse of your note is just how quickly one can get way layed for noticing an orchestrated effort which further denies the public buying choices and elevates the conspirators profits margins in the doing.
its sad, and shahmeful to rail against an observance of reality.
it is not pitiful for the OP to call a spade a spade, but it is egregious to allow subtractions from the consumer so that the only possible saving grace consumers might realize is aimed squarely at more 'convenience.
by all means, the free world needs more convenience.
... but for whom is this to actually benefit?
wally world is merely the precipatory move. the drizzle before the flood.
people are being put out of work and profit margins increased with purely online content sales.
.. and damn the expense.
removing major possibilities for acquiring music is just one more way of controling price by the recording industry, labels, and artists.
I'm not against anyone getting their due financially for their works in a free market. Just how free a market is it if one can only buy from the store the coal mine owns?
I am against being funnelled into fewer options regardless the concern. especially when it ends up costing me more and offering me less!
years ago we were told CD prices would drop shortly after their introduction as only regurgitations of the exact same content were initially being made available at several times the cost of the records they replaced.
eventually the major disc makers had to comply with a class action suit to fork over a mere pittance back to those who involved themselves in the action.
I spent hundreds or more, and I got reimbursed about $20.
and CD prices never dropped. their packaging did degrade in the thinly veiled ruse of being an ecological advancement wherein paper ushered out plastic cases.
still there was no price reductions in CD sales.
later we were told CD would not last. the dyes would disolve in 4 or 5 years at best,.
these were the first advances of the new age of 'spin' being introduced into the global culture. it was not true then. or now but truth became easily side stepped for profit or agenda.
Spin did and does serve the purpose of those who have promulgated such crap.
its no wonder why societies around the world display anger so easily and avidly.
same way with almost everything else, political, commercial, industrial, and social. THE truth is routinely kicked to the curb and choices are being stripped away from the public. bit by bit.
B&M audio outlets began to vanish. now its gonna be the same thing for music stores.
shopping for 'gems' at the local record stores was once an exciting part of being into music, and it is now sentenced to attrophy and die a senseless death.
so be it.
its obvious here most people could care less that they are now being driven like so many cattle into a controlled market where they must buy online files which sell at premium prices 24/7.
no bargain sales ever! As there is no reason for a sale if they are the only places for the content's distribution.
it also seems not to matter that some of these supposed HD file sellers have been taken to task about the true nature of what is being sold in how it was derived and or produced.
indeed, exactly how is the veracity of the content to be verified?
check the threads on this forum and others for more info on some of these online outlets alleged transgressions.
soon it would not surprise me if the major labels will begin selling their own content online via downloads or affiliate themselves with existing sellers and once more they will control prices and buying avenues.
sure, $18 to $25 for something which must be saved redundantly (meaning more HDD space must be in place for safekeeping the files), which is a well hidden yet demanded cost.
seems cheap enough, except when you consider the same content could have been had for $3 to $10 or so on disc and redundancy no longer a requirement.
good deal! I can't wait!
eventually the exact same scenario will occur with vinyl once the current fad dies down.
the writing is on the wall for vinyl junkies too.
...and BTW, exactly what are replicated ’masters' on R2R going for these days? Hundreds! yep. Hell of a deal!
eventually there will be no further need for pressing venues. no need for the man power. Wharehousing orrraw materials and production. merely zip it out in a file format few if any can verify.
With the subtraction of these expenses of course we will see more economical pricing and availability of content, right?
video now gets 'bought' yet it is only accessed via connectivity as it sits stored on a server somewhere... hopefully. but for how long?
again, we are at the whim of the seller and with few or no real rights at the end of the day.
and now, with fewer resolutions.
since the Jurasic age, it is always the same evolution in the recording industry, and retail arenas from the majority of music producing firms. they will simply introduce a format or fashion for acquiring music, and later on change that format to a entirely different type or style so you can vomit up and resell the same content in its new whiz bang style.
then in a few years market a reputedly new vastly better format and make another change. ala,vinyl @16, 78, 33.3, 45; 8 track. R2R. Cassette. various forms of Cassette. ELCAT. DAT. CD. DVD Audio, SACD. Blue Ray. UHD Blu Ray. DSD.
same goes for Home Theater. What is the latest fad? UHD? HDMI 2.0, or 2.2? 4K? 8K? anyone recall Beta Max? Laser disc?
Again with audio its back to R2R and Vinyl with digital being corralled to online only.. outlets where the buying alternatives are significantly truncated.
presently MQA rides onto the scene forcing yet more hardware acquisitions.
what is next?
I bet its MQA II. or MQA UHD
change for the sake of change serves very few.
are we now merely a culture addicted to expediancy?
perhaps too, recording labels will conglomerate or individually be the ONLY resource for what ever artist's content forcing us to obtain multiple streaming service subscriptions in the forthcoming 'subscription wars'.
all the while we sit with eyes wide shut and berate any who will not climb on board with the rest of the sheep and adore the latest greatest choreographed impositions forced upon us by the industry.
people are being put out of work and profit margins increased with purely online content sales.
its a lovely idea!!
but for whom?
it sure as Hell ain't us!!
wanna stem this tide a while longer?
get in your cars and get to these places selling hard copies of music and support them. its a simple proposition.
moreover, take your children or a friend with you and introduce them to a new and more tangible and tactile world and its advantages.
sorry. I felt it needed to be said. when music can only be acquired online, then I will chase that dragon too and feel very sad about it.
