FOPP Flop

Post by **RobB** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:37 pm

Sadly the growing unpopularity of compact discs have found another victim.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6252300.stm

blue · Post by **blue** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:44 pm

I can't believe the employees are not being paid their month's salary!

How can firms be allowed to do that? How are those people going to pay their rent, bills and feed themselves till they get another job? God, I cannot believe how employers are allowed to treat people in this country.

Post by **sound world** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 10:42 pm

OK,I see.I went into town on Friday with a visit to Fopp,to pick up some soul classics,on my list of things to do.There's two stores in Bath,and the first was like the Marie Celeste,'Open' but locked,nobody about,all the lights on.I was puzzled but I wandered on doing the other things I had to do until I got to the other one-same deal.No note on the door-and it was still morning,nowhere near lunchtime.
And I did wonder whether something like that had happened,and whether all the employees had been sent home,and...whether they'd get paid

That's terrible.
So I had to go to HMV,boo hiss.

Post by **RobB** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:18 pm

sound world wrote:So I had to go to HMV,boo hiss.

Well,make the most of it because HMV's first half-year profits have been halved so they'll probably be the next for the chop.

Post by **sound world** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:57 pm

Yeah,I read that.
Maybe I'm old-fashioned,but...
OK I'm old-fashioned.

I'd far rather have a CD with the artwork,info etc,proper sound,than a download. What does everyone else feel?

aermancer · Post by **aermancer** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:09 pm

i think anyone with a soul prefers having the CD or LP. MP3s are lifeless, there's nothing like having the physical copy :/

i'd download an album off of soulseek or some other p2p before i bought it on fucking iTunes though.

blue · Post by **blue** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:22 pm

The only reason I buy a CD now is to support the artist. If I've downloaded tracks from a new album to hear it, I make a point of buying a physical copy of the album because otherwise it's just robbing the artist. But now that there are more non-iTunes options becoming available for buying whole albums digitally, I can see myself doing that more and more. I like having my music on the computer, and I can burn a cd copy for playing on the hi-fi with my own selection/order of tracks. I like doing that, and I don't hear a huge difference between high-quality mp3s and CD. Maybe my hearing isn't that good or my hi-fi isn't, but it just doesn't bother me.

This actually opens up my favourite artist's work for me, in a sense, especially since she's been putting out albums that are just too much in one go. I don't actually listen to the 'official' CDs any more, I make my own ep-length tracklists (usually around 7 or 8 tracks), burn them on separate discs and listen to them that way. The official CDs just sit on the shelf, unused, once they've been ripped to the computer.

Artwork is great, but not essential for me. Photos of the artists can be found by the truckload on the internet, if you need to see what they look like, and credits/lyrics can usually be found on the artist's own website, or on fan sites. The creative types can make their own artwork, of course. Frankly, with the official artwork on T's last two albums, the less I see of it the better.

Let the revolution come, I say. It'll be better for artists and consumers, because it will take away a great deal of power from the beast that makes life difficult for both - the record company.

Post by **RobB** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:35 pm

sound world wrote:I'd far rather have a CD with the artwork,info etc,proper sound,than a download. What does everyone else feel?

I feel the same.

Very occasionally I'll download and burn a track to disc when the recording isn't available elsewhere (Emma's 'The Room' being a good example) otherwise I would always prefer to have the factory pressed cd and artwork etc.

I seldom listen to music on the computer,mainly because my volume control is permanently turned right down.

blue · Post by **blue** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:23 pm

I invariably have my playlists going when I'm on the 'net, although I try to turn them off when I'm writing essays.

Post by **RobB** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 2:54 pm

In the not too distant past I use to be a regular visitor to Soho

......hang on,let me finish

,.....to visit the record shops in Berwick street.

Unfortunately,as this report shows, it doesn't look like there's much point now.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6707255.stm

blue · Post by **blue** » Tue Jul 03, 2007 3:05 pm

Interesting read.

It's tough for those involved in selling CDs in shops, but it's the way of the world - new ways of doing things come along and sweep the old away. People have to accept that and look at other options. I like the attitude of the guy in the last bit of the report, who comments that although he can't sell CDs anymore, focusing on vinyl has provided a way to survive. Thing is, vinyl will always be loved, and it seems to be coming back more and more as CDs have become meaningless for a lot of people. There's a romance about vinyl, and there'll always be a market for it.

It's a question of trying to adapt, or just move on, I think. Evolution - change or die.