CD Sales

In my hometown there was only one record store. It has recently gone bankrupt. This really saddens me. It used to be that you couldn't keep people away from record stores. Now that people can get music from the comfort of their own homes, CD sales have declined significantly. This past summer Sam The Record Man, a store that has been operating downtown Toronto since 1962 shut its doors for good. I know people want to get their music as quickly as they can. But I'm kind of old fashioned and I like to have a physical thing that you hold in your hand. It used to be that when the new Led Zeppelin album came out you would scrounge enough money together, head down to the record store, pick it up, come back home, and listen to the whole thing from start to finish. I don't know if it's just that nobody makes good albums anymore or if people don't have good attention spans, but people don't want to hear albums anymore they just want the one or two songs from the album that they hear on the radio.

The fine line between selling out and having integrity

Where do you draw the line between integrity and sellout? The line used to be here, now you draw it over here. It's become so accepted in the general public that having your song tied to a commercial is no big deal. Then they argue "Well, we just want to gain a larger audience. We're not doing it for the money." Bullshit! THAT'S WHY YOU WANT A LARGER AUDIENCE!! TO MAKE MORE MONEY!!! Don't get me wrong, I think an artist should get paid for their song. But that's what they should be paid for. Not to have their song tied in with Coca Cola or whatever the fuck your product of choice is. I'm a musician and a songwriter. I'm not doing great financially right now. But if Coke came to me and said "We think you have a great song, we'll pay you two million dollars to put it in our commercial." I'd be slamming the door in their face. Because I don't want a song that I wrote because that's how I was feeling at the time tied to some product that doesn't have anything to do with it. Music should be a product on its own.

Rolling Stone's 50 best albums of the year

So, Rolling Stone magazine has just released its year-end issue with its list of fifty best albums of the year. In the number one spot was TV On The Radio's Dear Science. An album I've never heard by a band that I've never heard of. Bob Dylan's latest entry in his bootleg series was number two. The thing that gets me though is that The Jonas Brothers are at number forty. Are you kidding me? The Jonas Brothers are a modern-day Monkees. They don't really play their instruments. Haven't you ever noticed that there's a band behind them? But I guess it's fitting since a "good" album is one that sells the most. I just have one question. Where's the new Black Crowes album Warpaint on this list? I think it's one of the best albums of the year. Maybe not as good as their 1992 album The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. But as far as 2008 goes it's pretty damn good. There are a lot of artists that released albums this year that I would put on that list. The Trews, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Sloan, Serena Ryder, Sam Roberts to name a few. I also don't understand why Chinese Democracy is up there. I understand the novelty of having a new Guns 'N' Roses record. But I've heard the album. It's really nothing too special. I'll leave you with this thought: Just because an album is on some list by some magazine doesn't make it good. And just because an album isn't on said list doesn't mean it isn't good.