Comment on March 2nd, 2008.
In my music-buying life (which started about 1996, say), physical singles have never been a major force in the US. Actually, come to think of it, of the few CD singles I have (as opposed to 45s, of which I have gajillions), at least half are imports from the UK (Space's "Begin Again", say) or France (Air's "Sexy Boy", with that awesome Francoise Hardy b-side). As long as I can remember, the singles section of CD stores have been tiny, ill-kept sections, where browsing was in no significant way different from browsing through the 99 cent bin--except that it was usually more expensive, for less music.
The exception, of course, is indie and punk, but they've stuck mostly to vinyl for singles and probably don't sell 1,000 a week, anyway.
In a lot of ways, iTunes and such are the rising of the single from the grave rather than the death of it. It's a weird world.
Comment on March 2nd, 2008.
In a lot of ways, iTunes and such are the rising of the single from the grave rather than the death of it.
You're absolutely right. I hadn't thought if it that way.
Comment on March 3rd, 2008.
Well, I am a very clever fellow. Just kidding.
You posted this at an interesting time as far as my brain is concerned...I think I'm finally just starting to come around to the non-physical revolution. Not that I'm gonna get rid of my vinyl or anything (hellz no). But a couple weeks ago I DJed a bar night with a friend of mine, me using my CDs and him using his iPod, and it went a long way toward convincing me that mp3 is an improvement over CD.
Who knows, maybe next I'll get a cell phone and a microwave.
Comment on March 3rd, 2008.
I've been slowly making the transition since getting an mp3 player. Living in a small apartment in New York makes it easier to let go of the physical artifacts.
I'm still too addicted to sound to entirely embrace mp3s, though. For the music I love best, while I may let go of the disc, case, and notes, I will still need to keep lossless music files.
Comment on March 3rd, 2008.
Good point, although my ears are ruined enough that I don't hear a difference between high-quality mp3 and less lossy formats.
Comments can contain some xhtml. Names and emails are appreciated but not required (emails aren't displayed).