Bits of Things: Insults and Thin Rays of Hope for Music

Stuff has been happening. Here's some of it.

- The war against Nickelback continues. After Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney dissed the ever atrocious Nickelback in Rolling Stone, saying ""Rock & roll is dying because people became OK with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world," Nickelback tweeted thanks for the "biggest band" compliment. You're welcome?

- Good news for people who've had mostly bad news. For the first time in seven years, music retailers saw a bump in music sales. It may be a meager 3%, but hey, we'll take it. This also means that the new Nielsen Soundscan report is out, which is just about as exciting as the annual State of the Media Report. I believe a "woot" is in order.

- And speaking of selling music, The Beatles's Abbey Road sold 41,000 copies– vinyl copies, that is– in 2011. That makes it the top selling vinyl record of the year, as it should be. Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Mumford & Sons, and Radiohead rounded out the top five.

- Brendan Benson of the Raconteurs is set to release his fifth studio album, What Kind of World, in April. What's more, he'll release it on his own label, Readymade, which is also brand-spanking new. 

- Another release to look forward to is Of Montreal's forthcoming album Paralytic Stalks, out Feb. 7. Until then, Pitchfork is streaming a song from the album titled "Dour Percentage." Have at it. 

A Year to Live: The Demise of the CD

Bye bye love.

We knew it was going to happen at some point.

Side-Line music magazine reported recently that major record labels plan to abandon the CD by the end of 2012.  (Maybe that's what the Mayas saw, not the end of the world, but the end of CDs.)

I expected to freak out, battle the compulsion to go out and buy as many CDs as I could carry, and then come back the next day for more, but it's been such a long time coming, that it's hard to get worked up.

I do regret that the next generation won't have a physical music collection. I wonder what this will do to their music owning habits when they won't really be able to have a library until they have a computer. I wonder what I'd be doing with my life if I hadn't been able to run my fingers over the records in my dad's collection.

So, what comes next for the record store owners? The future of liner notes? Album art?

I imagine one day there will be a weathered little old man who lives on a mountain, who is the only person who can tell you what year Pet Sounds came out without Googling it. He'll be the lone living repository for musical knowledge that stems from love and obsession for music.

That's a bit dramatic, but it does feel like a painfully slow death– slower and more painful than it was because now there's a date off in the future, even if CDs won't mysteriously vaporize on one day.

I also wonder how many people will miss CDs. With programs like Spotify, who could miss being confined to the same 100 or so albums? It's hard to figure. In the past when an old format has died out, it was still being replaced by something physical.

Anyway, CDs will be floating around out there for a while. TMI doesn't really have any golden advice. I'm sticking it out for as long as I can.

In the meantime, if you want to continue to support your local record stores, which you should, here's a list courtesy of special Black Friday releases courtesy of the folks at Record Store Day.

R.I.P. Vibe

Ill tidings once again from the magazine industry. Vibe magazine, a publication centered around urban/hip hop music and lifestyle, announced today that it will be closing down, effective immediately.

Quincey Jones started Vibe in '93 and some 13 years later, Wicks Group bought the magazine. Vibe is just one more in a string of magazines-- from all genres, crumbling under the financial strain of a bad economy and a changing mediascape.

Well, that's one more music magazine down, folks. Who knows if anyone's going to be left when the clouds finally clear.

R.I.P. Performing Songwriter

More bad news from the magazine industry. After 16 years, Performing Songwriter Magazine is shuttering. Founder and editor Lydia Hutchinson announced on the magazine's website today that the June issue will be the last. Sadness.

According to Hutchinson's letter, it's mostly because of the economy, but partly because they decided they wanted to end things on their terms. Publishing euthanasia, in other words.

It's a damn shame, Performing Songwriter is a solid publication. It will be missed. Beyond that though, it's another nail in the coffin of the magazine industry. I'm reminded of a book I read a few years ago, called On the Beach, by Nevil Schute. Basically, there had been a nuclear war and the world was ending. Most of the entire world's population had died, but the fallout hadn't quite spread to Australia yet, where the action takes places. Fallout was inevitable. Death was eminent. The whole time you're reading the book, you feel helpless because you know how it's going to end and it's only a matter of time.

Magazines are dropping like flies. I'm still optimistic that Paste will be able to hang on until the economy picks up again, but in the meantime, careers are dissolving and life is going to get harder for many families. I wonder who will be next and who will be left standing. Similalry to On the Beach, I don't want to finish the book... but there's not much of a choice, is there?

Peace

Best Buy-- Guess Not

I saw this article on CNET about how Best Buy is lowering its earnings forecast for the upcoming year, especially in light of Circuit City's bankruptcy. Now, I'd never rejoice in the misfortune of others, but it does make me a feel a bit better. Granted, their financial problems don't just stem from falling music sales-- there's the sucky economy to thank, after all-- but no one's safe and due to Best Buy's top spot on the TMI S*#% List, we're feeling rather smug. I guess those blue polos are getting expensive.

Third Eye Blind: Latest Victim of F.O.S. Syndrome

I've got precious little time to rant, but I saw this article on CNET talking about how Third Eye Blind's vocalist thinks that the album is better off dead. No, sir! We will have none of this talk. Just because the market dictates something doesn't make it right. On the bright side, when was the last time anyone cared about Third Eye Blind? Besides a trip down memory lane whenever "Semi-Charmed Life" comes on shuffle, they haven't exactly had much staying power. Anyhoo, happy Monday.

Notes From the Brink of Destruction

While this horse is both dead and beaten, I did think this scary little chart from Rolling Stone was worth posting. In reality, there's little mystery left in the future (or lack thereof) of the CD. Enjoy this graph. 

The Shins Shun Sub Pop?

This rolled in about an hour ago from the always trusty Rolling Stone news feed. Apparently The Shins' fourth album will be released on Aural Apothecary, frontman James Mercer's label. And the exodus continues. What's surprising here, is that I thought smaller labels such as Sub Pop, though it does carry hefty indie clout, would be safe if only a little while longer. Hold up though, before you drop to your knees and start praying for the music industry, Sub Pop isn't totally out of the picture though its role might be of a supporting nature as a "partnering label."

In any case, TMI is more than a little giddy at the prospect of a new Shins album. At the moment the best we can do for a date is it won't be "due out until at least 2009." Well, I guess I can be content in knowing that The Shins are at work.

Look for the Viva la Vida review by tomorrow.

No Such Thing as a Free Album

Recently I got wind that The Hold Steady is streaming the entirety of their soon to be released album, Stay Positive on their Myspace. I checked and sure enough, there it was. While I'll hold off on any comments about the album itself, it's worth noting that not so long ago record execs, fans, and artists alike would have balked at the notion of laying it all out there at no charge, even before the album is released for purchase. Can you do that? How does that even work? Well, these days-- yes you can and I get the feeling that there is a certain sense that there's really not much to lose or gain. As reported here at TMI a month or so ago, digital finally walloped regular cd sales and the trend is so drastic that it would be mind-bendingly naive to imagine that this shift could ever be reversed.

From the outside looking in, things are falling apart. Major record labels which at one time were the end-all, power-wielding dictators of protocol, are gradually losing leverage and clout. Sure the internet is infested with countless bands banking on novelty and grassroots type movements, but the big deal is that the established acts don't really need the big labels and can opt to employ their own home style marketing tactics.

When Radiohead announced they'd let fans name their own price, the risk was purely theirs and their sheer boldness earned In Rainbows far more publicity probably than would have been expected of a conventional Radiohead release. A positive side effect perhaps is reaching new potential fans, but it will still never be enough to offset the decline. Coldplay just offered a free download of "Violet Hill" in anticipation of Viva la Vida, and now of course, The Hold Steady put all their cards on the table, begging copyright infringers to get creative.

To an extent, I don't understand. At the same time it makes perfect sense, if there's going to be an evolution in the proverbial "way we do business," they might as well take it into their own hands and see what's left when the smoke clears.

Stay cool, kids.

It Happened. Digital is King.

The other day I saw this this fascinating little story from CBS. iTunes has surpassed Wal-Mart in music sales. Not that I didn't see this coming, because you'd pretty much have to be living in your air duct not to get a whiff of this trend, but now that's it's official it's really something to think about. A little while ago I would have ventured that yes, the tangible record industry is doomed, but I would have given it a decade before CDs disappeared. After seeing the entire half isle devoted to pop/rock at an actual Wal-Mart, I'm giving it five years tops. Granted, megastores like Best Buy will probably hang around a little longer, but that's to be expected. Roaches supposedly can survive a nuclear attack. Eventually though, placing hands on an actual plastic disc will be a challenge.

Honestly, I still can't get my head around not having my music physically exist anywhere and I really hate to think about what this will do to album art. What's the point if the cover is only a couple pixels by a couple pixels? Sadness. I'm still getting over the death of vinyl. Stay tuned, kids.