Crate digging the future

For music lovers across the world, the Internet has become an almost indispensible godsend. Whatever your background the net provides a resource for any style of music you happen to be into – ambient, dubstep, techno, funk, rap or even Brazilian samba.

In the midst of all the ballyhoo and debate surrounding the “illegality” of downloading, music lovers across the globe are united, downloading music whenever they feel like it. They gain access to artists they may have never been exposed to. In a way similar to exploratory archaeologists they are involved in a process that uncovers seeming mounds of levels and sub genres not normally seen on the surface of the music landscape.

So whilst celebrities, rock and pop stars writhe in angst over this widespread and illegal file sharing, there are a thousands of artists who are enjoying a small but warm return to the spotlight courtesy of the Internet.

Let's put all this into context, the governing body for the global music industry IFPI recently stated that forty billion music files were downloaded without payment in 2008, meaning 95% of all digital music was downloaded illegally. A spurious fact, but nonetheless quite startling. It is also been reported that sales of albums in the last decade have halved. Any artist beginning in today’s climate doesn’t really stand a fighting chance of commercial success. This is of course unless you tour your behind off and you capitalize on the lucrative world of publishing.

Many unknown artists, who existed prior to the development of the Internet, have cemented there small but indelible place amongst the world of crate diggers. Crate digging is defined by DJs to refer to the activity of checking record stores for old, rare or unusual music on the vinyl format, which can be used by DJs, turntablists, or be sampled.

But now, the world of crate digging has been updated; these people use album blog websites to do their digging alongside their large hard drives and mouse. The amounts of niche blogs and genre specific sites have grown enormously in the last few years. Dedicated to ‘80s fusion jazz, Japanese death metal, Russian blues, Greek pop, you name it, it's all out there.

The people behind these blogs know their shit. They spent years waiting behind the scenes to finally upload their unbelievably organised and large collections and give the content out. It can be thought of as a beautiful thing, music from all sub continents available to all people. In this way the floodgates have opened, and I can’t see the Internet shutting down any time soon.

I suppose the question can also be put, is there any harm in utilizing these album blog websites? I believe many of these artists traditionally strived to find a voice and now only ironically through the Internet have found a medium in which they can pass on their music to a new audience. These blogs can be said to give many of these obscure artists notoriety.

Some of these obscure artists have changed my world; from the funkadelic prowess of Mystic Merlin boogying his way through the 1970s all the way to some classic instrumental ‘80s house from Chicago’s finest Mr. Fingers.

Did Mystic Merlin or Mr. Fingers ever get royalties from someone buying their worn out second hand LP? I think not. The irony is not lost on most DJ’s, picking up these long forgotten LP’s is how DJs have always made their bread, and their lifeline has always been about obscurity.

Of the many millions of albums that were released since the early 20th century most have been long dead and forgotten. Very few people will for example pay $150USD for a 5 CD box set, entitled the best of “Pre-war blues from 1910”. All these deluxe box sets are now online, to be downloaded, shared and listened to at the listeners leisure. The computer screen has opened up vistas for music lovers hitherto undreamed of twenty years ago.

Some may bemoan the dire circumstances of music sales at the moment, but as the saying going, ‘one door closes and another opens’. The open door is a represented by a revitalised modus operandi. It needed a makeover and in some ways the industry has never been healthier.

Who knows how all this will play out – some15-year-old kid in some small urban town in Iowa, USA or Kyoto,Japan may revolutionise the industry probably with one small piece of renegade software or computer code. Maybe the balance will shift back to favour a small group of commercially inclined artists and corporate behemoths but the way things are at the moment the Internet has provided a forum and an audience for the small and the obscure.

As Shakira so eloquently pointed out recently, "music is a gift. That's what it should be, a gift."

Links & backgrounds

Caballitos Poni Blog

White Dot Music Blog

Saltyka and his Friends Blog

Buns O'Plenty Blog

Zzyrus Blog

Play It Again, Max Blog

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Tags for this article:

blogs, Mr.Fingers, Music industry, Mystic Merlin, record store, Shakira, Vinyl

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03/02/2010

text: Ari Stein

PHOTO: johnnyalive VIA FLICKR