If you're an average 21 year old male college kid raised in suburbia you're entire life, you're probably not like me in that you don't have a powerful urge to listen to Taylor Swifts latest release Red in it's entirety again and again. My love for Swift began as a joke sometime shortly after the release of Speak Now, and after months of bringing it up, I somehow began to legitimately enjoy her music to some to degree? I do however manage to keep at least one foot on the ground, and remind myself that she isn't actually a great musician, though I do maintain that she's at least average and not crap, and I do believe she's a genuine artist. But still, it's that foot on the ground that has kept me from actually purchasing her album.
But that begs the question- why not just download it online, or go on a legal streaming service? I personally haven't had the best of luck with torrent sites such as pirate bay (*cough*virus*cough*), and maybe that's my own fault, but still, I'm cautious downloading anything on the internet. I'd get the album from a friend, but as you imagine, Taylor Swift isn't so popular among the college male crowd. But as far as streaming services go, the album is not yet posted on my streaming service of choice, Spotify.
In reaction to this I did a quick google search for "taylor swift album red streaming." Then, this article appeared. Basically, this article is saying that even in this download culture age, there is enough of a demand for big releases that if they're not put on streaming services for a while after their release then there will be a spike in album sales as a result. However, the article maintains that it is a numbers game, and a certain number of people will still just illegally download the album.
Oh how I long to own a pair of those hands. (Too creepy?)
But that idea that NOT putting the album available online gets her more money is one that contradictory to what we hear virtually everywhere in the news and media. Along with the newspaper business, the music industry has almost entirely fallen. So if that's the case, why is someone like Taylor Swift who isn't widely considered as a great musician becoming the first female recording artist to have back-to-back albums reaching one million sales in their first week?
The bottom line is this: although people are slowly getting their sources of music somewhere other than the music store, the music industry has not fallen. No other outlet has risen that can even compete. Even services like Rhapsody and Spotify are owned by the industry, and they're able to play the streaming culture when it means more money for them.
Anyway, this has just been a rant in frustration not being able to get a dumb pre-teen CD. Expect to see a review soon, though! Have any thoughts on download culture versus the industry? Any ideas of where music culture is heading, or where it should head? Let me know in the comments below!
