Music As An Art Form

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Photo provided by mike.jw under a Creative Commons license

An article recent came out at the Boston Globe, talking about the Millennial generation and the vinyl to digital transition of music.

“The younger generation has no romantic attachments to records as physical objects. To them, music exists as a kind of omnipresent atmospheric resource.

And it’s not that I begrudge them their online treasure troves or bite-size iPods. But I still miss the way it used to be, in the old days, when fans had to invest serious time and money to track down the album or song they wanted.

What I’m getting at here is a deeper irony: technology has made the pursuit of our pleasures much easier. But in so doing, I often wonder if it has made them less sacred. My children will grow up in a world that makes every song they might desire instantly available to them. And yet I sort of pity them that they will never know the kind of yearning I did.”

Even though I grew up mainly in the cassette and compact disc eras, I love vinyl. I love the feel of a record in my hands. I miss looking at the artwork on the vinyl itself or the packaging.

Music is an art form, both in sound, and in sight. Liner notes in CD’s have lately been reduced to a single slip of paper, instead of the large-format prints of the 90’s. Cassettes are all but forgotten, but vinyl has seen a surge in popularity as of late, selling close to a million albums in 2008, up over 15% from sales in 2007.

Time Inc. ran an article about this very subject in 2008, aptly titled “Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back”.

“Album extras Large album covers with imaginative graphics, pullout photos (some even have full-size posters tucked in the sleeve) and liner notes are a big draw for young fans. “Alternative rock used to have 16-page booklets and album sleeves, but with iTunes there isn’t anything collectible to show I own a piece of this artist,” says Dreese of Newbury Comics.”

What was lost, and is now being found, is the second art of music sales.

The packaging.

I, for one, am happy to see that particular art form return.

Tagged as: artwork, boston globe, packaging, time inc, vinyl