Tearing off the plastic film, the click as the case swings open, the smell of the glossy booklet and the excitement as you close the deck of your stereo… I grew up in the era of CDs and I always loved the experience of getting that album you’d been waiting somewhere in the range of 2 to 4 years for. There was something to be said for the physical interaction involved with getting that new music. I would mark the day of release on my calendar and once I got it home I would pop in the disc and examine the artwork and liner notes as it played.
In 2009 this is a practice that most find arcane, overpriced and inconvenient. The Internet has changed the way we consume music (and everything else) and people have less patience for the models of days passed. Rather than waiting for the latest magazine spread featuring an interview and photos of your favourite artist you can do a Google image search while perusing their Twitter entries. Instead of heading out to the store on release day you can surf to the iTunes store or whatever free sharing site has managed to get a hold of leaked tracks early. At the very least you can visit the band’s Myspace page and hear the tracks they’ve chosen to exhibit. Continue reading ‘Metamorphosis of an Experience: Physical to Digital’
