Death of Liner Notes

Good topic and you raise some valid points.

While todays web technology provides many avenues for a fan to go search and find info about a release, for most it is an afterthought and becomes completely detached and disassociated with the product purchase.  I'd say only the minority would go search that info while the majority just mindlessly play the music and don't think much beyond that.  Having said that, there are many fluff/crappy/worthless liner notes but many that also describe in-depth analysis in how songs were created and it's very nice that this information automatically be a part of ones purchase.

I am also under the opinion that Itunes dumbs down the listener permitting them to cherry pick the favorites and not forcing them to try to appreciate deeper cuts into a release.

Hasn't I-Tunes also destroyed the concept album?

A song-based industry is like doing away with movies in favor of sitcoms.

I agree that a single song or a Top 40 hit jogs a tiny snippet of a time in ones life but I have far deeper etched revelations of time and memories from full releases or albums.

Actually, in my mind liner notes actually died long ago, but for a different reason than Don Was states in the piece. As a consumer tool, they were included on the backs of albums to help folks browsing in record stores…you just took the LP out of the bin, flipped it over and read something that helped you make a decision.

The advent of CDs changed all that…you now had to buy the disc and open the shrink wrap to get to the notes. Thankfully, that neither stopped folks from making good albums nor kept folks from buying them until CD bloat became a problem. After the sheer convenience factor of mp3s, I think another reason the public went so hard for them is that you could simply get the great tracks you want and not pay ridiculous album prices. I'm an album guy, but that doesn't mean I don't understand why they came to seem less tenable.

(and I may be old fashioned) But think of some of your favorite releases in years past.  There is something very special about a new release from one of your favorite artists where you get to experience 45 to 60 minutes of non-stop new material.  It represents an era in that artists time along with possibly a project collaborated with other artists for a "collection of music" (the release).  An evolution over to a single song every few months would seem so cheesy IMHO.  Dave Weckl is one artist I enjoy that recently went this route and I am quite dissapointed.

I guess there is really no point in a press release for new music.  Just periodically peruse the artists website and watch for a new song to be released.  Music will become even more of a passive activity.  It will be like new movies just arbitrarily showing up in your local theater.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot 

I don't think it's possible to link the album format to creativity in general.

Agreed…no creativity whatsoever in Kind Of Blue, A Love Supreme, Nashville Skyline, Spirit In The Dark, Blue, Sticky Fingers, Born To Run, Songs In The Key Of Life, Mothership Connection, Tonight's The Night, Aja, Unknown Pleasures, Thriller, Paul's Boutique, etc.…absolutely none.

Linear notes are one of the reasons for preferring CDs over any iTunes related system of purchasing music. There is good information and interesting reading material in those little booklets. Information on the internet is fine, I prefer linear notes and books. Linear notes, sleeve notes, album notes whatever you want to call them are an added bonus to the album in my opinion. 

I'm hit or miss with whether or not linear notes are really that important.  I might have looked at them the first time I purchased the cd, but typically they end up in my cd binders, very rarely to be open again.  I read more about the music online than on the actual linear notes provided (if they are provided at all).  I think while linear notes are nice, they aren't a requirement for me.  I'd much prefer to spend the time analyzing the music!

Well I guess they did NOT die.

http://www.tuaw.com/2009/07/27/itunes-store-to-add-enhanced-liner-notes-extra-media-to-album-p/

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot 



You've got a logical fallacy going there. I said the album format wasn't responsible for creativity, not that it precluded it.

But there is also no doubt that many of these albums were dominated by a cohesive idea that shaped the creation of the album. Something like A Love Supreme wouldn't mean what it does if it were released as multiple singles; it might not have even been made.  We can imagine what Martin Scorsese might create if he were only allowed 30 minute tv shows, or worse, 3 minute youtube videos.  Would such work be brilliant? Almost certainly, but it would be a different thing.

I couldn't care less about liner notes, most musicians fought against them anyways.  I also don't care about album covers that have shrunk to tiny thumbnails on an iPod. Both are completely ancillary to the music. What does matter is the album as an organizing concept for music creation. I am greatly disappointed in the music industry for not asking itunes to sell some music as album only. (It makes me sad that kids are listening to a few tunes off of Led Zeppelin II and not the whole record.)

Now certainly most artists are still creating music in 45-60 minute bursts (which is another unfortunate result of technology, as the 35 minute LP was perfect, and of course the 70 minute double album was reserved for those with something truly magnificent to say.) Even pop artists like Kanye and Taylor Swift are making 'albums.' But will this always be the way? Probably not.

This is not a problem for real musicians and music fans. But, the fractured mainstream will miss out on this. We are already seeing how easy it is to avoid legitimate music. It will just become progressively easier as Arcade Fire, Wilco and so many others are pushed farther underground. Regular people, passive consumers of music, will continue to have less of an opportunity to experience real music.

Quality is the perceived characteristic that you appreciate, there may be more characteristics. I agree with you on Jazz though. Only a few rock bands came close to the feeling I got when listening to - in my opinion - good Jazz, Kingston Wall is one of those bands for me.  

The debate feels like much ado about nothing…great singles are great…great albums are great. Both were created to scratch a particular itch. Personally, I'd rather listen to albums most of the time, but I don't see the point of emphasizing one over the other. No sure why it seems so important…

I prefer albums unless there is only the single. With albums you usually get little booklets and with remasters interesting bits of information added.