iPods and the End of Rock Snobbery
Although obsessive music collectors were early adopters for the iPod, it turns out that portable music players may actually be killing off the species:
Thanks to the iPod, and digital music generally, anyone can milk various friends, acquaintances, and the Internet to quickly build a glorious 10,000-song collection. Adding insult to injury, this process often comes directly at the Rock Snob's expense. We are suddenly plagued by musical parasites. For instance, a friend of middling taste recently leeched 700 songs from my computer. He offered his own library in return, but it wasn't much. Never mind my vague sense that he should pay me some money. In Rock Snob terms, I was a Boston Brahmin and he was a Beverly Hillbilly--one who certainly hadn't earned that highly obscure album of AC/DC songs performed as tender acoustic ballads but was sure to go bragging to all his friends about it. Even worse was the girlfriend to whom I gave an iPod. She promptly plugged it into my computer and was soon holding in her hand a duplicate version of my 5,000-song library--a library that had taken some 20 years, thousands of dollars, and about as many hours to accumulate. She'd downloaded it all within five minutes. And, a few months later, she was gone, taking my intimate musical DNA with her.
"Remastered" in TNR (warning: contains references to High Fidelity).
(come on, one of you has to have some of those AC/DC covers...)
Posted at 3:30 PM
the ac/dc covers you speak of are by kozelek. absolutely gorgeous stuff
Score = 0
Hate to admit it, but I feel the author's pain. While it's hard to say anything bad about the democratization of music, it does suck that digital tecnology has made it so easy for music 'tards (or the just-plain-lazy) to suddenly reap the benefits of all that rock-snob blood, sweat, and tears.
Score = 0
Are we looking at it weirdly? I thought indie kids always defended file sharing because it turned them on to more music, which they would buy anyway. The kids who simply want to copy your library should get kicked in the shins for taking no more than 5 minutes to steal from musicians.
Score = 0
It also sucks when one misspells "technology."
Score = 0
and further more, who cares about the rock snobs whining? What about the musicians? The writer of that article is a narcissistic douche with annoying friends.
Score = 0
So-called "Rock Snob's" use their music to separate themselves from others that they believe have inferior taste. They truly believe they are taste makers, yet they don't want to share their music with others. They pretend they want to, but the reality is they are threatened by the idea of others catching on and listening to their music. It is really sad. In the end, it is more about personal insecurities than a passion for music.
Score = 0
This is why I hate the 'high-fidelity' rock snob types. What is so bad about the democratization of good music? Rock snobs always complain about how bad mainstream music is. Yet a technology arises that allows others to be quickly exposed to a broad and diverse range of otherwise obscure music and what do they do? Complain that the 'Beverly Hillbilies' are able to gain access to music that had taken them years to find. Their whining sounds almost as bad as the music industry complaining that file sharing is ruining the industry. I'd like to acompany my rant with the NOFX song 'Death to Dinosaurs'.
Score = 0
Hey, Has anyone seen my U2 8-track???? i tore apart my AMC Hornet and can't find the fucking thing....
Score = 0
i have to agree with this, and its extremely odd that those "highly obscure" AC/DC covers (red house painters/ mark kozelek) are also some of the gems of my collection. but i will admitt that i am a culprit too. my collection would be smaller without the "borrowings" from my rock snob brethren.
Score = 0
Just because someone has a bunch of music on their iPod, doesn't mean they listen to it.
Score = 0
This guy is not even a real rock snob. He's an poseur in my mind. This is true for several reasons:
#1: A real rock snob doesn't own a single mp3. As the author demonstrated, any idiot can get a computer file, whether from someone else's ipod, or some obscure P2P network. And besides, a real rock snob hates mp3 compression.
#2: A real rock snob doesn't even own any cds. Any digitalization grates on the rock snob's ears. It must be vinyl, preferably a record from 1973 that was only among 3 ever pressed. That's rock snob-impressive.
#3: A real rock snob actually has TWO copies on vinyl. One for listening, the other for "archive" purposes.
Score = 0
Nice post, Topher. Especially #3. hahaha
Score = 0
I'm sure the "beverly hillbilly" didn't go bragging about the AC/DC cover, as he was to busy pickin' and grinnin' to the mash up of the R. Kelly vs. Red House Painters vs. Toby Keith
Score = 0
It's difficult to determine where one stands on this subject. I for one believe that my ipod was the best investment I've ever made (with the exception of college and the sort). I am a huge fan of itunes sharing. As far as the inequality goes, in the end, it is probable that you've taken just as many songs from others as they have taken from you. The initail shock of your entire library being duplicated is understandable especially if countless hours of your time was spent perfecting it. On the other hand, the exact duplication exibits the "robber's" lack of imagination and individuality.
I agree that it is slightly unfair that tons of artists seem to be getting exploited and cheated out of profits through excessive sharing. But for the new and lesesr known groups, it can be amazing publicity. I've been exposed to so much noteworhty music in this way. It all has to be put in perspective. Plus, who can actually blame people like poor college student who only want to become more well-rounded. Keep on spreading the music and love.
Score = 0
what an asshole this guy is. i mean this whole new wide open frontier is great for everyone. because of the simplicity of the digital music revolution people who never would've had access to diverse types of music they might never have known about otherwise. i think it's great. and i hope that it mean eventually (even in a city as big as nyc) i won't be the only black girl at the shows i go to. cheers to the death of the rock snob—i'll pour out some brew in your honor.
Score = 0
what an asshole this guy is. i mean this whole new wide open frontier is great for everyone. because of the simplicity of the digital music revolution people who never would've had access to diverse types of music are listening to bands they might never have known about otherwise. i think it's great. and i hope that it means eventually (even in a city as big as nyc) i won't be the only black girl at the shows i go to. cheers to the death of the rock snob—i'll pour out some brew in your honor.
Score = 0
You people wouldn't know tongue in cheek if it smacked you in the face, and then went downstairs for fellatio.
Score = 0
please, shut up, everyone
thanks
Score = 0
Heh, what a wanker.
I share my 25 gigs of music across my college network for anyone who wants it. ^ ^
Score = 0
what an asshole this guy is. i mean this whole new wide open frontier is great for everyone. because of the simplicity of the digital music revolution people who never would've had access to diverse types of music are listening to bands they might never have known about otherwise. i think it's great. and i hope that it means eventually (even in a city as big as nyc) i won't be the only black girl at the shows i go to. cheers to the death of the rock snob—i'll pour out some brew in your honor.
Score = 0
what an asshole this guy is. i mean this whole new wide open frontier is great for everyone. because of the simplicity of the digital music revolution people who never would've had access to diverse types of music they might never have known about otherwise. i think it's great. and i hope that it mean eventually (even in a city as big as nyc) i won't be the only black girl at the shows i go to. cheers to the death of the rock snob—i'll pour out some brew in your honor.
Score = 0
i love turning people on to new music, and i think this guy is kind of a dick for hoarding his.
Score = 0
i think the guy's a dork. as has been mentioned, just because someone yanked 20 gigs from me doesn't mean they'll bother to listen or get to know it. but frankly, my whole goal in life is to get my friends to think my music collection is worth stealing, so that when i go to their houses, i don't have to listen to their crappy music; they'll be playing mine! *that* is true snobbery. shit, i would duplicate my collection over and over again if it meant never hearing sarah mclachlan again when i show up to a party at the house of someone i otherwise really like.
Score = 0
I think this line sums up the entire thing.
"Soon our collections will be all ones and zeroes stored deep in hard drives, instantly transferable and completely unsatisfying as possessions."
That's what it's about for most of those douches, possession. I have it and you don't. Yeah I know the music actually sucks. But you know what? There are only six of these in existence, and I have one of them and you don't.
Score = 0
Not those AC/DC covers you idiots he means the ones by the singer from Jawbreaker and the bassist from Mutt Nunch.
Score = 0
I think what he's getting at is that he see's the Rock Snob as some wise elder of music taste, and that it's through dedication and a lot of investment in one's music collection to get into that position. And now that people are just yanking 10,000 song collections of each others computers - that investment is not only rendered mute, but no longer commands any respect.
I agree with him - to an extent. When people learn of my music collection, the immediate assumption is that I copied it off someone or used p2p. (I even had a very casual friend tell that to the staff at my local record store when I bumped into him there - I nearly slogged him one). And you actually need to explain to people that, no, you actually bought and own the lot of it.
I often get people saying they really need to go through my collection and grab heaps of songs off me. Most of the time, I make sure they never get the chance. I'm not in the business of letting someone pop around and dumping 40 cd's on their HD. There are people I trust though that genuinely are interested in having me recommend some new music, and those people I do make samplers or the odd album for, with the hope they'll like what I've given them and go out for more.
Score = 0
Those AC/DC covers are so last week.... What's hot is the acoustic covers of Motley Crue by Ben Gibbard and Conor Oberst...
Score = 0
the kozelek covers are not hard to find.
Score = 0
snobs sucks, whatever their ilk. period.
Score = 0
DISGUSTING ARTICLE. If he doesn't want to give out his music, he doesn't have to. If he does so, he should learn to deal with it. We all have stuff we don't think other people could handle. The rest we're happy to proliferate. It's about the music, not the collector. In other words, if you like the band, you'll want to give it exposure. This guy's just a selfish person. He should stick to writing about politics...pig.
Score = 0
Why are being a "collector" and being a conspicuous consumer considered to be a different thing? It's still an awful lot of time, money, and thought put into what amounts to dreck in the long run. Thank God for the ipod for killing them off.
Score = 0
"rock snob" is a term invented by some blogger whose girlfriend left him for someone with a little grey in his hair, who owns vinyl, but still wears converse.
I am that guy and I know how to treat her like a lady.
I'm not sorry I saw the original CLASH while you'll have to settle for the Tim Armstrong-fronted version. But even we thought people who obsessively collected were kind of bogus, dude. Music is how you remember events in your life. The Buzzcocks guided me through breakups in 1997 and 1980, and that is why a little of me dies when I hear them in a car commercial.
Here is my advice to the kids. Don't be a format cheerleader. You're going to look like an asshole in a few years when IPODs are as relevant as 8 track tapes or cassettes, and you'll have to go out and buy, beg, or borrow all those songs all over again. This is how capitalism works. Mini disc anyone?
Score = 0
It's really easy to say what selling out is when you've got an 80K a year job with benefits and you're NOT a professional musician. Not directed at anyone per se, I just thought I'd mention it. On the flip side, it's still amazing to me how few people care to think about the actual global implications of a society almost uniformly obsessed with the possesion of nigh-useless objects.
Score = 0
you can't buy taste....
Score = 0
No, but you can buy everything else, and you can buy enough influence to decide what's tasteful or not. So actually, maybe you can.
Score = 0
kozelek is coming out with an album of all modest mouse covers on nov 1 under his sun kil moon moniker.
Score = 0
heres the answer to sharing your music and keeping it snobby....dont just have the person copy everything....you pick out a portion of the good stuff and then reap the benefits of someone appreciating your fine taste in music...
Score = 0
I'd also argue "the thrill of acquisition" is still found when digging up some rare gems via p2p...hell it was what originally fueled early napster fanaticism
Score = 0
Right on Newwave post #1. You aren't a very good music snob if you let people copy all your stuff.
Score = 0
"rock Snobs" eh? As a musician I think it's a shame that the music isn't happily distributed among the population. Sure it's a shame to see jems like 'Plea from a cat named virtue' by the Weakerthans smushed up next to an Ashlee Simpson track on a pink iPod's playlist but at least they have the opportunity to listen to some intelligent music. For the comments to the effect of "they don't respect the work you put into finding all that stuff??", I think you lost the point a long time ago. Its not an ego thing, its not a snob thing...I like music and I share the things I like. I also support musicians worth supporting (buy cd's by good artists)
Score = 0
is there only one other person here who accepts that maybe theres a happy medium ?
Ovbiously its great when a band gets the praise it deserves ! But I still get really annoyed when the kids that made fun of me for disliking 50 cent in junior high tell me that they're gonna be at the modest mouse show.
Its fine for people who aren't all that devoted to music to listen to the music of the devotees, as long as they arent posing as rock snob types.
Score = 0