Where are they now Wednesday - Winger

Winger is actually back with a new album entitled "Better Days Comin'" out via Frontier Records.

If it a good thing, bad thing, do you even care?

Where Are They Now Wednesday - Doug Aldrich

Doug Aldrich has played with Whitesnake, Dio, Hurricane and the band Lion (not to be confused with White Lion...also band famous for doing the metal version of the Transformer theme for the original animated Transformer movie).

What is he up to now? While still playing with Whitesnake he also took time to release a new album with his own band Burning Rain.

Record Store Day

Yesterday was Record Store Day, an internationally celebrated day to celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store. I had ventured out with my son today and was happy to see some of my local record stores lined up out the door and down the block. I was proud to see this, both as a music fan, someone who still enjoys browsing through bins in record stores and as a father sharing this experience with my son.

But being who I am, I quickly found myself thinking “how can we get people to start shopping for music again, with the same passion we’re seeing exhibited on Record Store Day?” This thought was quickly followed by, would we want to? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see that sort of passion exhibited every day, it would do wonders for the music industry. But part of what creates the enthusiasm for buying music on Record Store Day is that it is a unique event. So maybe I shouldn’t be thinking about how I can recreate Record Store Day every day, the focus should be more on creating other events that help bring out the passion for music we see from Record Store patrons on Record Store Day.

People like events. People like to be part of an event. Record Store Day is just one example of one of these events. In the comic book industry the busiest day of the year is Free Comic Book Day. For a local independent artist, their biggest show is usually the CD release show simply because it’s an event. People need a reason to do something and turning something into an event makes it something more. 

There are people who actually go shopping on Record Store Day with no intention on buying anything, they just go to be part of the experience. The casual social shopper doesn't just come out on Record Store Day. I’ve heard the same thing said about Boxing Day. When you think about it, stores seem to be moving away from offering the massive discounts on Boxing Day and most of the sales are not much different from what you'd see through out the year. Ironically, most stores have stopped offering the massive discounts because they've realized that people will go shopping on Boxing Day just because it's Boxing Day. 

The great thing about Record Store Day from the social aspect is that even if you're not buying music, you're still out with other music enthusiast, talking about music, celebrating what you love about music. 

The bigger picture...if we want to build on the momentum of Record Store Day and encourage the passion share by music enthusiast on Record Store Day all year round, we have to create our own events. We need to find something that brings everyone together to share their passion. Sadly, music used to be the thing that could bring people together...maybe that's where we should start. 

Staggered Release Dates

Another example of how the music industry is ruining my music consumption experiences (yup I actually said music consumption experiences).

A lot of my music purchases are done online, usually through iTunes with the occasional Bandcamp purchase supporting an independent artist I enjoy. There are however a handful of artists I will still make the effort to go out and buy the physical CD for. These are some of my favorite artists, bands I have a true passion for their music and most likely have their entire catalog of releases on CD.

Part of the reason I go out and buy their physical CD is because I feel it actually ads to the experience. The anticipation waiting for the release day, going to the store wandering the isles seeing what else is new before grabbing a copy of the CD I want off the shelf and then walking up to the till to pay for it. I’ll have the wrapper off before I even get to my vehicle and the CD will be popped in the CD player before I even do up my seat belt. The whole experience is not only something I enjoy doing, and I often find I’m an even bigger fan of the collection of new music being played on the CD after buying the physical copy rather than simply clicking “Purchase” on my computer or phone.

So how is the music industry ruining this experience? (Aside from some artist’s music is getting harder and harder to find in some retail outlets)

Staggered release dates.

Every Tuesday I check iTunes to see what’s new for releases in both the music and movie world. Relying on iTunes as my primary resources for knowing when something has been released has lead to me being duped into assuming because it’s available on iTunes, the physical copy is also available in stores.  That isn’t always the case. There have been a couple instances now where a CD or DVD has been available on iTunes prior to being available in stores.

I understand why this is done in the movie industry. If a movie is available online for viewing prior to a physical copy being released, the movie could potentially earn more money. If the physical copy came out first, some people will just simply buy the DVD/Bluray and not spend any money renting it via an online on demand option. Where as if the on demand version comes out first, some people will pay to watch that version, then still go out and by a physical copy when it’s released. The staggered release for a DVD leads to more money being made off that movie…in theory.

We don’t see that trend in music. Some people will admit that they tend to buy 2-3 tracks to preview the album and then will go out and buy the whole album once it’s released, but with studies showing CD sales steadily decreasing and online increasing, I think it’s safe to say this is happening less and less. If people buy the whole CD on iTunes (which will also sometimes with bonus exclusive tracks) they are less likely to go out and buy a physical copy. It works for movies, because with On Demand you only have the movie for a limited amount of time. With music, they purchase it online and they now own the music and can listen to it when they want. If I know I’m going to go out and buy the physical CD, I won’t download any tracks off the album, not even the single. I want to experience the entire album when I buy it.

This has now happened to me a couple times. I’ve seen that the album is now available on iTunes, and not just as a pre-order, it has been officially released on iTunes. Assuming this means it is also available in stores I will go to HMV, Best Buy or even Walmart to pick up the CD only to be completely disappointed to find out the physical copy hasn’t been released yet. I get the logic behind this approach, even from a simple cost perspective releasing the album on iTunes makes more sense than printing way too many physical copies that will sit on shelves in record stores or buried in bins waiting to get returned to the label. What doesn’t make sense to me is that this is another example of the music industry having no clue when it comes to engaging their target audience.

Buying music should be an experience not something that you simply push a button to do. There’s a stronger connection when you buy the physical copy of an album. Sure online sales are cost effective and are easy for the consumer to do, but the interaction, the connection to the purchase can not be captured or recreated with the digital music purchasing experience and the labels/powers that be have no clue how much of an impact this could actually have.  

Daily Features

For a while now I've been posting various videos as part of some daily music features on my Facebook profile. 

I don't have a feature for each day of the week, but I am getting closer. Here's what we're working with right now. 

Wednesday "Where Are They Now Wednesdays" - Ever wonder what happens to some of your favourite artists? Where are they now? What are they doing? This feature helps to answer these questions by featuring new music by some of these artists, from their new band or sometimes even from the same band. 

Thursday "Throwback Thursday Video Edition" - Building on the theme used in various social media circles of "Throwback Thursday" we will use this feature to play some of our favourite videos from 'back in the day' 

Friday "Feature Fridays" - I get to hear a lot of new music. This weekly feature will be dedicated to introducing new music, new songs, new styles, etc in either video or electronic audio form. 

I'm working on trying to come up with some other weekly features...and I'm open to hearing you suggestions. 

To kick it off on this blog. Here's this week's video feature. 

Here's the initial one featuring my buddy Scott Whalen in his new band. 

Ugly Men "Penny Pincher" 

Conspiracy Theory - AC/DC Retirement

Earlier this week we heard rumors that AC/DC was going to call it a day. As this news spread there was a lot of speculation as to whether it was true or another internet hoax. The next day, word started to circulate that the band had addressed the rumors and assured their fans that they were not going to be retiring. Also mentioned in every post I saw, either about the rumored retirement or dispelling the rumors, was the fact that the band will be returning to the studio to record a new album in the next couple months.

This got me thinking…

Could this all be a publicity stunt to generate some excitement for the upcoming AC/DC album?

Rumors that the band is retiring tied together with talk of a new album helps to create demand for the potentially final album. It gets the AC/DC fans who may have packed away their Back In Black t-shirts to dig the shirt out and wear it with pride. It’s time to step up and be counted. If this is AC/DC’s last hurrah, their fans will make sure they will go out with a bang. What better way to show your support and thanks to the band you’ve been a fan of for years than to go out and buy their new album.

Now let’s take the next step. Now that the AC/DC fans have started to rally in support of their favorite band, have said band renounce the retirement rumors and fire up the fans even more. “I KNEW AC/DC wouldn’t retire! They’re the best band on the planet.” This was a common quote accompanying the renouncing retirement posts. You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone…or in this case, until there might be a chance you might lose it. Now that you realize how important this thing is to you, hearing that the rumors aren’t true and that you won’t loss this thing that only became important again because you heard you might lose it, your loyalty as a fan will reach new levels. 

Engagement in the band is now at a new high and fans are anticipating the new album a lot more than they were prior to hearing the band might retire.

What do you think?