When was the last time you bought a physical CD? I honestly can't even remember my last CD purchase. Physical media in general is so over for me. It takes up too much space. Clearly, Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn agrees with me. Many artists have began to sell music on iTunes anyway.
You see, Flynn and his band are working on new material right now. And in the process, Flynn is considering how the band will get the music to his fans. In an epic post on the band's official website, Flynn admitted he hasn't bought a CD in a while and never plans to again.
The entire post, which does ramble on a bit, is still worth the read, but here are the juicy parts:
We don’t need 19 songs and 72 minutes of music on a CD. And where would you even get most CD’s nowadays? Between my iPhone, iTunes, and Spotify, I just download or stream it, it’s too easy. I can say without a shred of doubt that I will never buy another physical CD again. Ever.
I have found so many new bands on iTunes and Spotify (I use the $9-a-month Premium version) it is absolutely incredible. The entire history of recorded music is at your fingertips, at all times. Sure, there are a few holdouts, but they’ll be on board within the year.
Even Metallica just hopped on the Spotify train. The world has gone streaming. It’s just too easy. Hell, I’ve found more new AND old bands on YouTube just surfing around than I ever have going to a record store.
And so we as a band ask ourselves a lot of unique questions about what we should do. I am absolutely not interested in selling CD’s first week of release for $16, $17 or $18 dollars/euros/pounds.
I’m not interested in selling CD’s at all frankly, though I realize people still buy and appreciate them… but hey, change is inevitable, especially in this business. Just like cassettes became obsolete, just like CD longboxes became obsolete.
Later on in the post, Flynn ponders how the band will release their new material:
We find ways to generate money to pay back the people who loaned us the money to record, to re-invest in our band, to make better records, to put on better light shows, to bring better sound systems, to keep the lights on at Machine Head, to live our lives, so that we can make more music.
We don’t want to get in bed with a bunch of corporate sponsors, we’ve already dabbled in that and it’s a nightmare, worse than the record companies. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up signing with a traditional record company after all, because there is A LOT of stuff that we’re just not interested in doing. Maybe we do something radical instead, I’ve heard a lot of great things about these Kickstarter projects, Amanda Palmer in particular has done amazing…
Machine Head have built up a big enough following where they can absolutely self-fund a new record. Heck, Protest The Hero JUST DID IT IN UNDER A DAY and dare I say that Machine FN Head have amassed a much larger/loyal following.
So now I ask you, when was the last time you bought a physical CD?
[via ThePRP]
