CDs, who uses them?

This question has been asked by a lot of people recently, so I'll put it out there! 

I was having a think, and I can't remember the last time I actually used a CD for something other than to put the music on my phone. Everywhere I go, I have an auxiliary cable or headphones, so what's really the point in having that disc anymore?

There's certainly an argument for having a collection, it's nice to have the artwork and a hard-copy product from an artist. I have many CDs, even if they are no longer used much. 

I guess this is one of the reasons vinyl records are coming back in. They have that vintage feel, with incredible artwork, and it's a 'blast from the past' if you get a record player to go with it (or dig the old one out from your attic!). Additionally, for any up-and-coming bands out there, being able to hand out a CD with a few of your tracks on it does wonders for the public eye. It's great PR and it saves the effort of having to download anything later on. 

It's fair to say CDs and Vinyls have their place in today's world, but that's not in the player or on the turntable. The sound quality of recordings has improved 10-fold since vinyl, and the hard-copy products are museum pieces. There are many people I know that have record collections, and seeing them in full glory is pretty incredible! When I ask them how often they listen to the records, they give the usual line of "Why would you listen to it? It decreases the value...", and that's expected. 

So tell me, how many CDs do you have? And how many vinyls? How many have you sold just to free up space? I know I've got rid of a fair few! 

Until the next post, Adios!

Music Videos these days!

It seems to me that music videos used to be very simple. You'd have the band performing the song, either by miming on stage or a live performance. It was pretty much always one of those options.

When videos started becoming more popular, they were then changed slightly to include video effects, transitions and the like. This made them more interesting to watch, but still kept the focus on the music. 

Then there were dance routines included in the videos, which shifted to taking the focus off the song, and more on the dancing. This was probably because the songs were nothing special. Although they are great dance anthems, you have the likes of the Macarena...Cha Cha Slide...The Ketchup Song...the BIRDIE song...need I go on? The reason those songs are popular is because of the dance to go with them, not the genius writing.

And now, pretty much every music video is about girls dressed in nothing, fast cars, money, and that's it. If it's none of those things, it means the song is written as a love song trying to get someone back. Specifically, I'm talking about songs that are in the charts. When you get into things like Kerrang, these subjects change, but that's another day!

This isn't to say the chart videos are all rubbish or anything like that, a lot of them are great, with catchy tunes to go with them, and I'll admit I'm a bit of a chart-nut, so enjoy the music I find on there. But it seems that music videos aren't about the music anymore, and are now focussed on what's 'marketable'. 

As with everything, let me know your thoughts! Do you agree? Disagree? Have a different theory?

Until the next post, Adios!