subject: Cyber Monday Helping the Music Industry Move Backwards? [print this page] Cyber Monday Helping the Music Industry Move Backwards?
Music: it's one thing just about everyone would choose not to live without. Every time I take to bus to work or walk downtown, I realize just how many people are attached to their iPods and other mp3 players. I'm just as guilty as the next person. I rarely ever leave my apartment without headphones in my ears. It makes the morning better and the day go by faster. Some listeners are fans of specific groups while others put whatever they feel like on their playlist. Whichever the case may be, nearly everyone who listens to music on-the-go has a digital music player and subscribes to a dedicated content service (such as iTunes or Rhapsody).
Naturally, musicians have promoted nearly all of their music digitally and plan to do more promotion this holiday season with Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Some of the industry's biggest names are releasing brand new material this holiday shopping season. There's just one thing: they're releasing all this new material on vinyl only.
When I first saw this piece of news, I didn't even know vinyl records were still released. When I think of vinyl, I think of my grandmother listening to Frank Sinatra on the old record player. But several artists are coming out in support of independent record stores this holiday season with limited edition vinyl releases. And I'm not just talking about the indie pop artists who rail against free trade. U2, Bruce Springsteen, and Metallica are just three of the many artists that are releasing vinyl only records in just a few weeks' time.
As the music age becomes almost exclusively digital, more and more music is pirated instead of paid for. In a stand of solidarity for independent record stores that are being hit hard in this economy, vinyl releases are "in" once again. It would seem that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are essentially helping the music industry move backwards. But don't expect vinyl records to be released in bulk numbers as they were 30 years ago. iPods and mp3 players still rule in this era and that fact will not change anytime soon. But for those of you collectors who might want to put that record players to use, check out to see if one of your favorite artists is releasing anything this holiday season.
