Failure To Commit
12-30-2011 
I dove head first into Spotify last week.
Im so "premium" it hurts.
Another $10 a month to listen to everything I ever wanted at the speed of thought with tactical exceptions. Don't expect any Beatles, every Aerosmith song you didn't want, and karaoke versions of classic catalog titles keep us honest and not completely co dependent on subscription service alone.
Spotify was originally conceptualized as a business model to curb piracy. I get it...keep making over consumption more instantaneous and disposable than ever so ownership is irrelevant.
I achieved a state of pure zen several years back when i decided to cannibalize the music world with bit torrents. I became a true empty vessel.
New records pass through me with an unprecedented level of access that I often just find myself collecting names and
never actually hearing a single song.
The joy of commitment is dead.
Overwhelmed by volume you become a librarian who never reads, obsessed with cataloging your conquests and collections of digital data without a single shred of desire to actually listen. Your much too busy collecting to absorb anything more than a snippet.
Do you remember buying a record, a cassette tape, a compact disc in a local store flipping through bins of material?
Did you ever get caught buying an album just because the cover art told you to?
You get home, unwrap your latest purchase only to hear something completely unexpected and rather disappointing. You just spent hard earned money on this record and won't be able to buy another till at least next week. You give it a few more chances and feel it slowly make sense. After five plays you finally latch on to the subtle melodies that only investments of time could yield. Years later...it's still one of your favorites. The quick hooks die so quickly but the patient song becomes a timeless classics. We lost a whole element of music culture. The coming youth may never experience the lost rituals of record shopping. Records bound to be favorites fall into digital obscurity due to lack of nurture.
Anything you want is a torrent away, a blog to listen, or a download to click. It means so much less as an intangible product but without any significant investment it becomes merely a folder of files.
Elevator music or a trophy room.
The CD shelves have all been replaced, Not just the boarded up and vacant record shops but even in the largest chains stores.
Everything is digital.
Easier and more accessible to not only find but create thanks to garage band software and low cost project home studios.
Is it even worth it for the artist?
In a sea of bandcamps, blogs, and myspace accounts, anyone with a mild skill for internet design can create the illusion of professionalism, casual dabblers around the world have swallowed up and staked claim to every possible word or phrase that resembles a band name and yet never actually put out more then a demo.
Has it become harder to be relevant now that it's so much easy to appear so?
Is the dream of making a living playing music even further out of reach with how vast the scope of technology has become?
What is the fate of the industry of music not only for the artist but the listener?
The XX have just released a new demo entitled "Open Eyes" that may or may not make their new record which they are currently in the process of recording.
The four now famous Brits made a name in modern times by not only producing quality music but by creating good old fashion buzz through word of mouth and critical acclaim. Things have changed drastically but some will hopefully always stay the same.
Please take a moment to view the creator of this wonderful visual representation of the current music world in relation to the artist and finance
Courtesy informationisbeautiful.net, click image to portal
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