Songs Of Guilt
Okay, the obvious pun was too tantalizing to pass up. At least I didn’t go all Grantland-y and make the headline read : **Semi-Clever Pun** : **Brief description of article**.
But seriously, at what point will my comedic chops evolve from “making my friends chuckle” to “making everybody laugh”?
U2 is an entity I am more familiar with than any other. And I know more about U2 than probably anyone else you know. Trust me. U2 made headlines recently (mission accomplished- sort of) by releasing their new album for free, un announced, and by placing it in everyone’s iCloud account at once. Many people didn’t even know what an iCloud was. Some folks, like me, had to learn how to access it in order to download the album. Others were outraged that new music they didn’t ask for was popping up in their jogging shuffle.
Sadly the pushback was so great that it has thus far overshadowed what is actually a pretty great album. Casual iTunes users felt violated in some way. Contemporaries of U2 were appalled that the biggest band in the world would do something so blatant to further erode the value of music in the eyes of consumers. But who really got hurt here?
To the outraged consumers I say: You have less than zero privacy, and that’s your own choice. You post everything on Facebook. You have a GPS transmitter in your pocket at all times that broadcasts your whereabouts, along with everything you like, dislike, covet, are mildly curious about, and who all of your friends are to advertisers who in turn tailor marketing campaigns to the archetype you’ve chosen to assimilate yourself to. Get ready to find more and more things popping up in your Cloud.
To the righteously indignant musician, I submit: The genie left the bottle long ago. For better or for worse, owning media is a ridiculous notion to most people under 30. It’s the Wild West once again, and someone will figure out how to monetize music but it won’t be record sales. Blame Napster or blame Metallica, either way it’s time to get into the t-shirt business.
I have defended U2 until this afternoon. Today is payday, and like most paydays, I went to the record store. I love the record store because I love vinyl. I love the tactile experience; seeing the large artwork, pulling out the sleeve and reading all of the liner notes as I listen. I love thumbing through the bins at the record store because I always stumble across something I was not consciously aware that I wanted until I saw it. And I love hanging out among other music lovers. While I was there, a gentleman came in and asked for the new U2. I’ve felt like such a knuckle dragger for liking them these last few weeks, I welcomed the opportunity for a quick chat with a fellow fan. He, like me (and like anyone who truly enjoys music and has at least a passing knowledge and appreciation of U2) thought the new songs were excellent and couldn’t wait to own the vinyl.
Sidenote: The album cover is so awful I almost don’t want to own the vinyl for the aforementioned reasons.
Anyhow, I chatted up the record store clerk on the subject and he was a bit salty. And it hit me. This is the real victim. You can count on two hands the number of acts with the selling power of U2. These record stores are likely hanging on by a thread. U2 puts out 2 to 3 new releases per decade, and I’m sure every record store owner was counting on this one to keep the lights on for awhile. They’re hoping this vinyl revival keeps building, but they’re likely in desperate need of a banner release by the world’s biggest band to float the whole operation in the interim. By giving the record free to everyone with an iTunes account, U2 singlehandedly took what was probably the largest payday of the year for record stores and cut it by more than half.
I still love U2. I think the new album is great. I will buy it on vinyl, not for them but for the record store. And I can’t wait for the tour. But they blew it here. For every record store that goes out of business in the next six months, the blood (red sky) is on their hands.
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