I’ve just been hauling through youtube looking at old videos of musicians I loved in the 90’s. I remember in 1998 walking through a shopping mall in Hong Kong trying to find a CD store to see if I could locate a rare or bootleg Blind Melon, Nirvana or Pearl Jam recording. I used to go into the local Record store in Portchester and want to own the limited edition recordings so badly but didn’t feel like I could afford it on my art school/retail wages. When I was in high school in London we used to hang out at the local train station causing mischief or chasing Nottinghill girls. One day this dude (he was American) came up to me and asked “Do you like Pearl Jam.” It seemed like an amazing coincidence, as I was one of the few people in my year that did, so I bought a homemade bootleg cassette from him for 4 quid. It was full of incredible bootleg Pearl Jam songs I’d never heard before that are now available easily (on their “Lost Dogs” CD or elsewhere). That whole idea and pride of ownership must be almost completely lost on teenagers now. I’m sure that my little brother (17 yrs old) doesn’t have a big collection of music that he compares with friends, boasting about some of his limited editions or rare bootlegs. It’s all available online at the touch of a button, and why own it when youtube will host it for free for instant access whenever you want on your iPhone.
This flattening and democratization of the music collection surely has some correlation with what is happening in the world of photography. Everyone has access to a camera that will make images at an amazingly high quality. No longer is it just the die hard professionals who spend a fortune on film, developing and the latest equipment who can make an image that can be published. As magazines drop and websites become the preferred method of acquiring information, the sale of high quality and exclusive images become less in demand. Why pay $100 for the limited edition double LP when you can watch the handheld camcorder of the song on youtube?
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