Comments on: You can't wrap an mp3

By: A Long Tail British Christmas | New Music Strategies

A Long Tail British Christmas | New Music Strategies — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:40:26 +0000

[...] Together with the tight economic environment, the implication seems to be that the British public are in for a bit of hunt down the Long Tail for interesting and affordable Christmas gift ideas. Just a shame you can’t giftwrap an mp3. [...]

By: How can you sell mp3s at gigs? | New Music Strategies

How can you sell mp3s at gigs? | New Music Strategies — Mon, 12 May 2008 05:39:57 +0000

[...] question is the one about music as a gift. The simple fact is that it’s quite difficult to gift wrap an mp3. CDs have long been a great present to buy. Simple, personal, and always well received. Buying [...]

By: 2007: Year in Review at New Music Strategies

2007: Year in Review at New Music Strategies — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 20:18:09 +0000

[...] You can’t wrap an mp3 Particularly pertinent at this time of year. This post highlighted the fact that a great many [...]

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 22:39:11 +0000

Hey Andrew
I know this probably doesnt really fit this post but it somehow fits the topic..sorta..kinda…

I just finished reading that article about Rough Trades new store and as a few of us locally have been discussing the “artefact factor” this part of the article took my eye:

And a revival in vinyl sales suggests that there may be a future for music sold as a physical arte-fact. Six times more 7-inch singles were sold in 2006 than in 2001, and with their current single, Icky Thump, the White Stripes have achieved higher weekly sales of 7-inches than any band for 20 years. The market may still be small and based on nostalgia, but Rough Trade is in a good position to tap into it, as it already sells 20% of its music on vinyl.

I guess my main thoughts on this are:
CDs are about to become artifacts just as vinyl did (but probably in a quicker fashion)

Hardly anyone values cassettes any more-Will CDs go the same way?

I have been buying interesting vinyl online for some time now because I love the physical product (Grindermans 7″ single is one sided, etched with a killer picture and limited in numbers)

A friend who runs a local CD wholesale/distributorship has booming sales exporting local CDs to Aust where they then get re-exported to Europe. He also imports CDs and DVDsand his business is growing in special niche markets.

Im kinda skeptical about the full demise of record stores as there are loads of young people (here in Dunedin) buying into the vinyl thing. Real Groovy buys it by the pound (lb) in 40ft containers from the US and the local store has a large area dedicated to it. There is now an annual record fair here in Dunedin.

I guess my point is I can see a future where the internet has created a new music buying category:

In stores offering physical product and downloads/uploads/flashcards etc(the stores and record companies havent yet quite figured out how to do this yet-but they will)and;

On the net in terms of the options you have to purchase -limited edition “hard copies”, special downloads with extras attached and the basic download only.

Humans love to shop and while the convenience of ordering online cant really be beaten, the gratification of paying for and receiving the physical item immediately cant be matched.

I know a few folk here who are already picking up last copies of Flying Nun CDs as they can see the value increasing as they become scarce just like the vinyl versions did.

By: John B

John B — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 12:48:29 +0000

Dubber

I just banged this together.

http://web.mac.com/john.burland/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

It’s missing the tactile experience of the LP cover but it’s fairly content-rich.
And it can be personalised. (Not that I know when your birthday is).
Not sure if the video clip loads properly but a link to YouTube could fix that.