Thom Yorke says record industry will be gone in months

Jack_C_Gregory

musicismylife78 wrote:

The idea of the record store being a place to find out about new bands and to congregate with fellow music obsessives, that stopped being the case years ago.

There is a documentary called "I Need That Record" about the state of the independent record stores across the U.S. At one point they talk to Pat Carney from the Black Keys and he said the independent record stores were very helpful in getting people into the group. He goes onto say that the first time they played at Sonic Boom in Seattle, there were 100 people there to see them because that particular store was spinning and promoting their record so much.

On a side note, I actually do find out about new groups through some of the record stores I go to. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to make a purchase and the cashier looked at my CD and said something along the lines of, "Did you know the guitar player from this group produced a record for so and so," which in turn leads me to new a new group.

veddertown

Thom Yorke has a few fair points but he's also a bit of a bell end!! The record industry may have flagged as far as sales of physical copies goes but since the birth of itunes my friends who rarely bought music before because they couldn't be arsed now buy loads. The industry will survive through the latest trend getting big and everyone else copying it until it is done to death. Then something else comes along. It's always been that way and always will. Even when all the nu-grunge emerged everyone copied it... :shock:

musicismylife78

WeaponX655321 wrote:

musicismylife78 wrote:

The idea of the record store being a place to find out about new bands and to congregate with fellow music obsessives, that stopped being the case years ago.

There is a documentary called "I Need That Record" about the state of the independent record stores across the U.S. At one point they talk to Pat Carney from the Black Keys and he said the independent record stores were very helpful in getting people into the group. He goes onto say that the first time they played at Sonic Boom in Seattle, there were 100 people there to see them because that particular store was spinning and promoting their record so much.

On a side note, I actually do find out about new groups through some of the record stores I go to. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to make a purchase and the cashier looked at my CD and said something along the lines of, "Did you know the guitar player from this group produced a record for so and so," which in turn leads me to new a new group.

my point is still valid though. a record store once attracted a certain type of clientele and its employees were also very specific. a record store was very different in 1992 than 2010, and its pretty obvious to anyone who has visited any record shop in the last few years that things are different. I picture a record store, and i picture the store from empire records. friendly and knowledgeable staff. music obsessives. a place to get tips from staff and fellow customers on what cool bands to check out, a place to gather and talk, discuss and listen via store headphones.

That store doesnt exist anymore. Not like that, not like it used to. Why drive 10 minutes to a cd store to get a cd for 20 bucks, and why ask for music recommendations when you can do it all online, on this forum, on pitchfork, on stereogum. without ever leaving the house.

catefrances

musicismylife78 wrote:

ultimately this is the same discussion i have on here every so often, the same players spouting the same stuff. if you want to believe it still exists, cate, go ahead, but its a time that will never come back. you are never going to NOT convince people to download, and its not just a few radical people doing it, its millions, billions of people doing it. so theres that.

additionally, you are high if you think the scene at the local record store is anything like it was say 20 years ago. or even 10 years ago. The idea of the record store being a place to find out about new bands and to congregate with fellow music obsessives, that stopped being the case years ago.

Ultimately, there are always people who are going to buy physical copies. but as I said it will be niche. buying physcal copies of cds is niche right now.

well how can i NOT believe it exists when thats exactly how i buy my music. i wander into record stores rifle through the stacks and buy what i want. personally i dont care if people download their music from itunes and i wouldnt even bother trying to convince them to do otherwise.

saying buying physical copies of CDs is a niche market is bullshit. what do i base this opinion on??? well for starters, the number of record stores i frequent. if it were a niche market then i doubt thered be as many. sure given enough time being able to buy music in a physical form may disappear, but right now and for the foreseeable future, that ability isnt going anywhere.

tcaporale

catefrances wrote:

musicismylife78 wrote:

ultimately this is the same discussion i have on here every so often, the same players spouting the same stuff. if you want to believe it still exists, cate, go ahead, but its a time that will never come back. you are never going to NOT convince people to download, and its not just a few radical people doing it, its millions, billions of people doing it. so theres that.

additionally, you are high if you think the scene at the local record store is anything like it was say 20 years ago. or even 10 years ago. The idea of the record store being a place to find out about new bands and to congregate with fellow music obsessives, that stopped being the case years ago.

Ultimately, there are always people who are going to buy physical copies. but as I said it will be niche. buying physcal copies of cds is niche right now.

well how can i NOT believe it exists when thats exactly how i buy my music. i wander into record stores rifle through the stacks and buy what i want. personally i dont care if people download their music from itunes and i wouldnt even bother trying to convince them to do otherwise.

saying buying physical copies of CDs is a niche market is bullshit. what do i base this opinion on??? well for starters, the number of record stores i frequent. if it were a niche market then i doubt thered be as many. sure given enough time being able to buy music in a physical form may disappear, but right now and for the foreseeable future, that ability isnt going anywhere.

In my town, three record shops have closed down recently. Maybe it hasn't specifically happened to you, but it's clear that record buying (not to say I'm against buying records; I love having a record in my hands, along with the fact that I enjoy playing CDs in the car) is slowly but surely dying.

In terms of what Thom said, I doubt he actually thinks it will collapse in months; he's known to be a little overly grim and dramatic at times.

Jack_C_Gregory

musicismylife78 wrote:

WeaponX655321 wrote:

musicismylife78 wrote:

The idea of the record store being a place to find out about new bands and to congregate with fellow music obsessives, that stopped being the case years ago.

There is a documentary called "I Need That Record" about the state of the independent record stores across the U.S. At one point they talk to Pat Carney from the Black Keys and he said the independent record stores were very helpful in getting people into the group. He goes onto say that the first time they played at Sonic Boom in Seattle, there were 100 people there to see them because that particular store was spinning and promoting their record so much.

On a side note, I actually do find out about new groups through some of the record stores I go to. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to make a purchase and the cashier looked at my CD and said something along the lines of, "Did you know the guitar player from this group produced a record for so and so," which in turn leads me to new a new group.

my point is still valid though. a record store once attracted a certain type of clientele and its employees were also very specific. a record store was very different in 1992 than 2010, and its pretty obvious to anyone who has visited any record shop in the last few years that things are different. I picture a record store, and i picture the store from empire records. friendly and knowledgeable staff. music obsessives. a place to get tips from staff and fellow customers on what cool bands to check out, a place to gather and talk, discuss and listen via store headphones.

That store doesnt exist anymore. Not like that, not like it used to. Why drive 10 minutes to a cd store to get a cd for 20 bucks, and why ask for music recommendations when you can do it all online, on this forum, on pitchfork, on stereogum. without ever leaving the house.

A record store with a knowledgeable staff, with tip savy employees and customers, and with headphone booths still exist. You have, in essence, described the record store I still go to.

dpmay

musicismylife78 wrote:

That store doesnt exist anymore. Not like that, not like it used to. Why drive 10 minutes to a cd store to get a cd for 20 bucks, and why ask for music recommendations when you can do it all online, on this forum, on pitchfork, on stereogum. without ever leaving the house.

getting out of the house is fun. talking to people face to face is fun. alternatively, sitting on a computer is tedious and tiring - i know, i'm doing it right now!

i think your larger point about record stores hurting is valid, but there are still some good ones left.

musicismylife78

dpmay wrote:

musicismylife78 wrote:

That store doesnt exist anymore. Not like that, not like it used to. Why drive 10 minutes to a cd store to get a cd for 20 bucks, and why ask for music recommendations when you can do it all online, on this forum, on pitchfork, on stereogum. without ever leaving the house.

getting out of the house is fun. talking to people face to face is fun. alternatively, sitting on a computer is tedious and tiring - i know, i'm doing it right now!

i think your larger point about record stores hurting is valid, but there are still some good ones left.

ultimately we see things differently. you see it one way, i see it another. the point i think though is that, record stores are dwindling and are losing serious money. That is beyond dispute. If you accept that cd sales have dwindled every week and every year since 1999, and you accept that record stores are closing at fast rates as well.

yes, obviously some record stores exist. but i think you are personally on lsd if you can type with a straight face that the record store hasnt changed in the last decade, dramatically.

You talk to that local indie store you keep mentioning. they obviously are doing well enough to stay open, but i would bet their sales have drastically dwindled since 1999 and more so in the last few years. I bet they say not as many teens come in to spend their allowances on new releases, and I bet they mention that their customer is different than say 10 years ago.

Will there ever be a time when no one reads or buys actual physical copies of newspapers? Probably not. People will want to hold it, feel it, feel the print on their hands. But things have changed, and the Times and the Post and whoever will freely admit that their buisness is now more taylored to online sales. Thats just fact.

Ultimately you can live in lala land and think the record industry, or the buisness of record shops is stellar and booming, or you come to the conclusion thats fact, that record shops are dying out and the act of buying physical cds is something that is way less common than it was

Lets be honest. You are a 13 year old male in 2010. You did all your chores for the week and you get 20 bucks for allowance. In the past, some teens may have rushed to the local mall or cd store and got a cd. I would wager, that 13 year old, in 2010, doesnt go to the cd store with the 20, they download for free online and then go spend the 20 bucks on whatever, clothes or something else.

Its like people get so defensive on this board and refuse to admit the truth. just because you still buy cd's doesnt mean you get to invent a world that isnt real. By all means, continue buying cd's, but dont act like the majority of people still DO. Facts are facts. You either deal with them, or you lie and make up your own.

dcfaithful

dpmay wrote:

if physical media ever really dies i will miss it. i just spent like four hours backing up a shit-ton of digital music files, and it's cool how much new shit i have ...

... but looking at a computer is absolutely nothing like flipping through my vinyl looking for something to spin, or, shit, even looking at all my cds and playing one.

with bands i truly love, or new groups i wanna really get into, i still want something on my shelf.

I feel the exact same way.

Lifted

musicismylife78 wrote:

dpmay wrote:

musicismylife78 wrote:

That store doesnt exist anymore. Not like that, not like it used to. Why drive 10 minutes to a cd store to get a cd for 20 bucks, and why ask for music recommendations when you can do it all online, on this forum, on pitchfork, on stereogum. without ever leaving the house.

getting out of the house is fun. talking to people face to face is fun. alternatively, sitting on a computer is tedious and tiring - i know, i'm doing it right now!

i think your larger point about record stores hurting is valid, but there are still some good ones left.

ultimately we see things differently. you see it one way, i see it another. the point i think though is that, record stores are dwindling and are losing serious money. That is beyond dispute. If you accept that cd sales have dwindled every week and every year since 1999, and you accept that record stores are closing at fast rates as well.

yes, obviously some record stores exist. but i think you are personally on lsd if you can type with a straight face that the record store hasnt changed in the last decade, dramatically.

You talk to that local indie store you keep mentioning. they obviously are doing well enough to stay open, but i would bet their sales have drastically dwindled since 1999 and more so in the last few years. I bet they say not as many teens come in to spend their allowances on new releases, and I bet they mention that their customer is different than say 10 years ago.

Will there ever be a time when no one reads or buys actual physical copies of newspapers? Probably not. People will want to hold it, feel it, feel the print on their hands. But things have changed, and the Times and the Post and whoever will freely admit that their buisness is now more taylored to online sales. Thats just fact.

Ultimately you can live in lala land and think the record industry, or the buisness of record shops is stellar and booming, or you come to the conclusion thats fact, that record shops are dying out and the act of buying physical cds is something that is way less common than it was

Lets be honest. You are a 13 year old male in 2010. You did all your chores for the week and you get 20 bucks for allowance. In the past, some teens may have rushed to the local mall or cd store and got a cd. I would wager, that 13 year old, in 2010, doesnt go to the cd store with the 20, they download for free online and then go spend the 20 bucks on whatever, clothes or something else.

Its like people get so defensive on this board and refuse to admit the truth. just because you still buy cd's doesnt mean you get to invent a world that isnt real. By all means, continue buying cd's, but dont act like the majority of people still DO. Facts are facts. You either deal with them, or you lie and make up your own.

i think you're just pissed off because you don't have a cool record store near your house. not sure where else this discussion could go.

Elzar

musicismylife78 wrote:

ultimately this is the same discussion i have on here every so often, the same players spouting the same stuff. if you want to believe it still exists, cate, go ahead, but its a time that will never come back. you are never going to NOT convince people to download, and its not just a few radical people doing it, its millions, billions of people doing it. so theres that.

additionally, you are high if you think the scene at the local record store is anything like it was say 20 years ago. or even 10 years ago. The idea of the record store being a place to find out about new bands and to congregate with fellow music obsessives, that stopped being the case years ago.

Ultimately, there are always people who are going to buy physical copies. but as I said it will be niche. buying physcal copies of cds is niche right now.

you have obviously never been to Amoeba records!
i agree that the masses are stealing/downloading music - but the true fans that will be here til the end will always support their bands, music stores, etc.
to me- i need physical copies......of everything - there is no value in intangible goods - i want the record that was pressed and approved by the band, so i can hear it EXACTLY as they intended. I do not like the "optimization" of digital music, a computer should not decide what my ears should or shouldnt hear.

i disagree with mr Yorke, and i believe the complete opposite will happen in the future, people may see MP3's as worthless, with no value when compared to its physical counterpart - and go back to the days when vinyl reigned - in the past 2-3 years, i have seen this vinyl hobby explode, and in so. california alone, we get (at least) 3 of the biggest record shows MONTHLY - Buena Park / OC Record show, Long Beach antique show, and PCC antique market (and also "Beat Meet" record show)- and im sure there are more than the 4 i can think of off the top of my head. Records arent going anywhere

and when the kids of today begin to start valuing things (if they can for longer than 3 mins even), they will eventually see the value of something you can hold in your hand and display it on your shelf. Where is your MP3? its invisible, hence, non-existent....to people like me at least

dpmay

musicismylife78 wrote:

dpmay wrote:

musicismylife78 wrote:

That store doesnt exist anymore. Not like that, not like it used to. Why drive 10 minutes to a cd store to get a cd for 20 bucks, and why ask for music recommendations when you can do it all online, on this forum, on pitchfork, on stereogum. without ever leaving the house.

getting out of the house is fun. talking to people face to face is fun. alternatively, sitting on a computer is tedious and tiring - i know, i'm doing it right now!

i think your larger point about record stores hurting is valid, but there are still some good ones left.

ultimately we see things differently. you see it one way, i see it another. the point i think though is that, record stores are dwindling and are losing serious money. That is beyond dispute. If you accept that cd sales have dwindled every week and every year since 1999, and you accept that record stores are closing at fast rates as well.

yes, obviously some record stores exist. but i think you are personally on lsd if you can type with a straight face that the record store hasnt changed in the last decade, dramatically.

You talk to that local indie store you keep mentioning. they obviously are doing well enough to stay open, but i would bet their sales have drastically dwindled since 1999 and more so in the last few years. I bet they say not as many teens come in to spend their allowances on new releases, and I bet they mention that their customer is different than say 10 years ago.

Will there ever be a time when no one reads or buys actual physical copies of newspapers? Probably not. People will want to hold it, feel it, feel the print on their hands. But things have changed, and the Times and the Post and whoever will freely admit that their buisness is now more taylored to online sales. Thats just fact.

Ultimately you can live in lala land and think the record industry, or the buisness of record shops is stellar and booming, or you come to the conclusion thats fact, that record shops are dying out and the act of buying physical cds is something that is way less common than it was

Lets be honest. You are a 13 year old male in 2010. You did all your chores for the week and you get 20 bucks for allowance. In the past, some teens may have rushed to the local mall or cd store and got a cd. I would wager, that 13 year old, in 2010, doesnt go to the cd store with the 20, they download for free online and then go spend the 20 bucks on whatever, clothes or something else.

Its like people get so defensive on this board and refuse to admit the truth. just because you still buy cd's doesnt mean you get to invent a world that isnt real. By all means, continue buying cd's, but dont act like the majority of people still DO. Facts are facts. You either deal with them, or you lie and make up your own.

that was kind of aggressive. i have never really disagreed with you, i just said there are still SOME good record stores. and there are.

tcaporale

Elzar wrote:

i disagree with mr Yorke, and i believe the complete opposite will happen in the future, people may see MP3's as worthless, with no value when compared to its physical counterpart - and go back to the days when vinyl reigned - in the past 2-3 years, i have seen this vinyl hobby explode, and in so. california alone, we get (at least) 3 of the biggest record shows MONTHLY - Buena Park / OC Record show, Long Beach antique show, and PCC antique market (and also "Beat Meet" record show)- and im sure there are more than the 4 i can think of off the top of my head. Records arent going anywhere

I'd say that this is definitely not going to happen. Digital music will continue to become more prevalent, mostly because it's much more convenient. Whether that's good or not remains to be seen.

Edit: Also, the recent interest in vinyl records is very very cool, but it will never overtake MP3's because it's not nearly as convenient a listening experience, even if the sound quality is much better. Also, not enough artists are releasing their music on vinyl these days.

Backstop-440

dpmay wrote:

that was kind of aggressive. i have never really disagreed with you, i just said there are still SOME good record stores. and there are.

Kind of like there are SOME arcades still around? Even though almost everyone plays video games at home on their consoles?

Touring will be the big thing. Acts will get word out via things like Pandora and Facebook, and work their way up the venue ladder from there. The majority of money will be made from ticket sales, merch, and fan club memberships.

Actually, that could be the way record labels stay relevant. You pay a fan club fee yearly to be in the label's fan club, which gives you a certain number of exclusive downloads and ticket opportunities for all the bands in their stable. Then the label can try to turn you on to their other new acts, or lure new acts to the label by showing how they already have X fans of similar music.

Drowned Out

You should write headlines for Fox
Can you provide the quote or context?
We'll ALL be gone in months...the question is how many?