Music, musings and miscellanea

The Guardian had several music industry related stories posted over the past couple of days. Apparently CD sales for the fourth quarter are expected to be down by a whopping 27%. Last year, sales for the same quarter were down 21%. One of the many reasons for the decline could be the record companies’ insistence on maintaining their position as gatekeeper to music, dictating when we get to hear records everybody knows are finished and just sitting on a shelf somewhere. Why can’t they just release the damn thing, or, as one of the Guardian’s bloggers notes, at least put it up on itunes and other digital sights. Bands like the Raconteurs, Radiohead and Girl Talk have figured it out, so why can’t the labels (My guess? Hubris). If you know it’s out there already (probably posted online via review copies), you’re going to skip the record company and just download it via bittorrent.

But while it looks like the whole industry is circling ’round the edge of the shitter, there is somewhat of a silver lining to the situation. Atlantic Records hit a huge milestone (whether it’s a good or bad one is up for debate), becoming the first record company where revenues from digital sales were greater than those from physical releases. Of course, that’s pretty easy to do when CD sales are down 27%.

And yes, that is a photo of unemployed rock stars lining up for their unemployment insurance. Try and spot Jack Johnson and Dave Matthews Band at the front.

A Tribe Called Quest – “Show Business”

And to celebrate, the kind folks over at The Guardian have created a 3-part video piece featuring interviews with the likes of Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves and The Contours. I couldn’t figure out how to embed the videos on the blog (it kept coming up with some clip of NFL commentary) but you can check out parts one and two here and here. And if any of you find yourself in Detroit someday, I highly recommend checking out the Motown Museum. They still have the original recording studio there and you can see the worn out floor in the control room where Holland-Dozier-Holland, Smokey and all the other great songwriters who put Hitsville USA on the map. It’s quite something.

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles – Tears of a Clown

There’s no word yet as to if there will be some sort of concert celebration similar to the one the company, now a subsidiary of Universal Music, held for it’s 25th anniversary. But then really, how do you top this: