iTunes vs Vinyl

  Music has changed a lot over the years not only in the knew genres appering but also how we listen to it. Since iTunes, and even earlier MP3 arrived the amount of CD's and Vinyl sales have gone down rapidly. Although this is great in many ways for us the consumer as well as the musicians its a shame how areas of such music abundance have rotted slowly away. There was a time when everyone used to go out to a record store, searching for their favourite artists and also meeting people who shared a similar passion towards that genre. Now on the other hand we simply go onto iTunes and buy the song then and there. Don't get me wrong thats great, but sometimes its just to easy or boring.

  Its not just the purchasing of music which has changed but also when and how we listen to it. In the years of Vinyl there were Jukeboxes in every bar, pub or social gathering spot. When you put your coin in the slot to pick something you knew it was going to be something everyone liked, appreciated or approved otherwise it wouldn't have been in the box in the first place. Now we have the constant worry and self consciousness of putting our iPhone/iPod into the speakers and getting bothered by disapproving people. Obviously not all the time but quite often. Although its great having a small device which you can take everywhere and listen too it does becomes a bit too personal. When its in the speakers you can enjoy the music but its always disrupted by that thought of 'Crap whats next' or 'I hope no ones going to break it' or 'I better check it'. You shouldn't care about your personal belongings just enjoy the music.

  The truest statement I've heard when regarding iTunes and Vinyl is "Its so much more satisfying to select a record, and put the needle on for it to play. Rather than press a small button on your phone or iPod"  Sure I have no problem with iTunes I mean I use it as do so many others, but I also have Vinyl balancing it all out. So keep listening to your music but please have a larger variety on how you listen to it.

 Carry on.  

Songs of Innocence - U2

U2's new album, Songs of Innocence has reached possibly more people than any album in history, not because everyone downloaded it but because iTunes automatically 'purchased' it and put it everyone's iCloud accounts, showing up in the iTunes library of practically everyone with an apple product. Some people are calling it a desperate publicity stunt, honestly I disagree. As the music industry is now more of a business franchise than anything else, you have to show some respect to these guys putting it out for free. U2 has been around for quite a while now, and money isn't much of a concern for them anyways.

Now to their music, this new album has some pretty good songs, especially considering they're all free. From the punkish vibe of 'Volcano' to the new age echo of 'Sleep like a Baby Tonight'... This album provides an enjoyable, full of life, and not to mention free, experience.

I imagine they have some sort of agreement with Apple on this release, and possibly even some money involved, but I think either way both Apple and U2 benefitted on terms of popularity from this release. But honestly, who cares... It's free for us right?

Something that has angered me on this release though, not on Apple or U2, but on the audience. People have criticized this album for being desperate, that U2 only wanted attention; yes, U2 wanted popularity, and whats wrong with that? Whats wrong with wanting to give their music to everyone for FREE? I've heard some people say that they 'overpayed for the new U2 album' which is obviously just a joke, but people should just go and actually listen to their songs 

and realize that this is an album worth much more than free.