Regarding the Way We Listen to Music

Try this staement on for size. I heard someone say it last week.

"If you're just listening to your iPod, you're wasting time."

Yikes, right? At first I was a little startled, but after a few seconds it hit me that she was dead on and I hated so much to admit that there's truth in that sentence. Part of what gave me pause stemmed from my last review for Twisted Ear. There's an unusually high level of intellect put into TE reviews, I feel, so when I started writing for them in June, I changed my methodology for reviewing an album. Overarching statements are important. It's not just about the album itself but how that album fits into society as we know it. Andrew Bird's Noble Beast made me think about how little patience we have for the intricacies and delicacies of nuanced music. With Bird, it's not nearly enough to hit "play" and dive into a magazine. At least once, you have to focus completely on what's coming in through your headphones or you will miss everything that's important.

In the review, I talked about how these days, the average person does not have that luxury. Listening to music is not a sole pursuit anymore. I wrote about it because I see it in my own life. The only time I have guaranteed for music-listening is the time it takes in the morning to straighten my hair. In the interest of hearing what I have frequently called my second pulse, I way the trade offs. I can give my music half my attention or none at all.

Sad, right? I can tell you exactly when I got off track. Sam's Town came out in 2006 and the only time I had to listen to it was while I was writing a weekly completion grade poetry response for an English class. Normally I'd never have divided my attention like that, but Sam's Town (as much as I'm not sure if I should admit it) was the last album that had a true hold over me. Some or nothing. No choice.

It's not just me either. When was the last time you saw anyone just sitting there with their headphones? I can't even think of the last time I saw anyone using anything beyond laptop speakers or earbuds.

Maybe it's the iPod's fault? When the latest technology was the record player, you better believe that the lawn wasn't getting cut. Or what about those early portable cd players that skipped every time you breathed too deep? I had one of those. I didn't leave the edge of my bed for 45 minutes for fear of disturbing the play. Sure, the argument could be made that Walkmen didn't skip, but still portability seems a little like the devil sometimes. It's a blessing and a curse, or worse-- a compromise.

The Noble Beast review sparked some comments, mostly dismay. What does it say when you've listened to an album twenty times and still don't know the lyrics? Back in the day we knew every word, every beat, every artificially placed breath on the track. Maybe that's why music meant more. You had the time to read into it and project your life all over the album. To this day, I marvel at how my hate for John Mayer turned into respect because I was felt totally defined by Heavier Things. That was a long time ago.

So where does that leave us? The workload's got no end in sight. The "To Do" list keeps growing. But maybe, if we think about it hard enough, we'll try harder to carve out the time. Or maybe we'll just continue to multitask our way into numbness.

The New Tale of iTunes

Apple announced recently that things are going to be a little different in iTunes town starting in April. The good: Steve Jobs and co. have added three more major labels (Sony, Universal, and Warner Music) to their arsenal. The better: DRM-free MP3s (digital rights management that prevents easy copying). The "eh": ITunes is getting rid of its flat rate of 99 cents per song and instead basing pricing on popularity and age. 69 cents will get you an older catalogued tune, 99 cents will get you a regular "new" song and a $1.29 will get you the latest single from the Jo. Bros. (that's right, I can't even bear to fully type out the names of this (Mickey) mouse dropping of a band).

So what does that mean for us? There's never been a better time to have obscure taste in indie music and a love for oldies.

As for the DRM-free business, I could care less. What the implications are of making it easier to copy MP3s, I'm sure I don't know fully, but I doubt this will change much. If someone is seriously concerned with copying music, then you've got to wonder if they paid for it in the first place. Just sayin'.

I've been digging around, reading up on the subject. If preventing piracy is so important, then why would seemingly vital protection be compromised in a business deal? Well, some seem to think that DRM was more of a bargaining chip in the first place, something that could be held on to to wrangle price hikes or whatever else. I can buy that theory. Others think it's been a control issue more than a protective measure. Apparently iTunes was "the last major hold out" regarding the protection on its music. Ex. Amazon has been DRM-free over a year now.

Another article I read pointed out that this weakens the link between iPod and iTunes, meaning people could start going for competing products like SanDisk, or iRiver. That's Apple's problem, but I tend to think that there's way too much brand recognition and built-in status in the iPod to seriously worry about potentially plummeting iPod sales. I could see more of an issue in the inverse, like who cares what kind of coffee you put in your Starbucks mug? But, why would you put Starbucks coffee in a regular mug if that's what you're going for? No doubt, there are better products than the iPod, but in many ways they are lesser-known entities and that hurts. On principle, I sell the average consumer short when it comes to technology. And I make no apologies about it.

Taking a step back though, I think iTunes is going to remain king a long time and as long as they don't do something stupid like stop selling music, there's not a whole lot they could do to screw things up.

Enjoy this excellent illustration.

Mmm...New iPods

Apple revealed the newest fleet of iPod nanos a couple of days ago. Admittedly, they look pretty sweet. I guess they're pros at making us all in to suckers for advertising. It's funny though, every year I feel a little older when the new generation rolls out, but realistically there's no logical reason to update on a yearly basis. Just after I bought my mini, Apple started making iPods with color screens and video capabilities and it really felt like there was a huge line between the new technology and my passé mini. Since then I don't think that there have been any monumental advances. Every year it's pretty much the same design stretched, compacted, and/or flatened. These babies have a few more tricks, like sideways album flow, Genius (a feature that puts together playlists of songs that go well together), and Shuffle activated by actually shaking the iPod. That last feature doesn't sound like a good idea. In fact, I can see it as being a real problem depending on how sensitive it is to the shakes. That's a Consumer Report waiting to happen.

Well, at least they're an attractive bunch. Odd years tend to be...eh, I've noticed, but the colors are so cranked up, you almost want to buy one just to look at it. The best part of all though, is definitely the price drop. $200 gets you 16GB. My mini cost that much for a fourth of the gigs. I think Steve Jobs robbed me. In any case, if I were to upgrade, this would probably be a good year to do it... I'm just waiting on that Consumer Report.