Reissues is there any point?

No matter what type of music you are into it seems unavoidable that you will pick up a c.d that is reissued or re-mastered in the near future. The main point of this seems to be to make the sound of the c.d seem more modern and up to date with current recording qualities. This may be fine for some but I take enjoyment in hearing the album as it would have sounded when it was released. Making re-masters completely pointless for people with my tastes.

Many of these re-mastered c.ds have such modern production that in my eyes it no longer even sounds like music. With the c.d sounding computer made rather than made by musicians, it sounds like the actual ‘soul’ of the music is missing.

If c.ds aren’t being re-mastered they seem to be being reissued. This, to me, is blatantly just a labels way of making some more money, which will be partly due to labels not making as much because of illegal downloading. This is fine if the reissued c.d contains something worth getting such as a bonus dvd, but when a reissue just contains something like a couple of bonus tracks it is clear that it is just the labels way of making more cash at the expense of the buyer.

Overall I think re-mastered c.ds should be an option for people who want them but not replace the originals as they do nine times out of ten. I think reissued c.ds should only be produced if there is a good reason behind it and the extras are worth the purchase.

Cameras and Camera-Phones at gigs

As the internet dominates more and more people’s lives, the camera seems to be used by everyone, everywhere. The worst possible time to use a camera in my opinion is at a gig while you are trying to watch a band you have paid to see.

Websites such as Myspace, Facebook and Youtube are now flooded with peoples gig experiences which is good for them, but at the time a large annoyance for everyone else around. At nine out of ten gigs I attend someone is waving their camera-phone about, blocking my view. This is only something that I’ve noticed in the last couple of years and really gets on my nerves and also spoils the atmosphere of the gig. I‘m also a quite tall person, I dread to think how little someone smaller than me could see when someone’s waving their camera about so they can get a comment on Facebook.

When people film gigs on their cameras it is rarely good quality, infact you can rarely even tell what music is being played adding to the pointlessness of cameras at gigs. Youtube has been swarmed with videos that can be barely made out and have no purpose next to pro-shot footage of professional cameramen.

If it was up to me any amateur cameras would be banned from gigs. If you want to watch a band at home, watch a gig DVD. If you want to look at pictures of a gig, go on a professional website. If you want to take pictures of yourself, get out the venue because that isn’t what live music is for.



Example of Youtube footage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WNwcO0EoPU

What damage is illegal downloading causing?

Illegal downloading seems to be on a steady increase year by year. This can only be pejorative in my view with bands earning less money which nine times out of ten is their living. When a builder does some work on a house he would expect to be paid so why should it be any different for a musician?!

In a recent article on kerrang.com Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich stated he downloaded the bands most recent album and was shocked with how fast the music could become available to someone illegally. ( http://www2.kerrang.com/2009/03/lars_ulrich_i_downloaded_death.html ). When a band as big as Metallica is worried about illegal downloading it is evident the problem is a big threat to bands of any size. It also will be making it hard for new bands who are trying to establish themselves, needing C.D sales to reflect that they are doing well, so a label will then want to promote them further, get them on tour more etc.

I seem to be in a growing minority who really enjoys buying C.Ds, I like being able to look at the artwork and the lyrics that the band/ musician have put effort into creating. This is completely lost when someone just has a few files on a computer.

It seems that illegal downloading will not decrease unless larger penalties are put in place for people who do so. I for one think larger penalties are a good idea and can only help music as a whole.