I remember the way promotion used to be made by all the labels about 12 years ago. They had several promo CD copies that they shared with magazines & webzines around the globe. Certainly this thing was kinda “expensive” for the indie labels but everything was done beautifully. You’ve got a proper copy of the album that you were about to review and you could listen to the actual music.As years went by, the labels thought another way of sharing their albums/music with the press. They used technology for their own shake and that helped them save lots of money and cover a bigger slice of the press pie. Through internet you could reach any webzine or magazine around the world with just an email. That was awesome. Unluckily, there was a drawback. Labels might have reduced their expenses but they did reduce the music quality as well. All that resulted in offering poor sounding MP3 promos. Why’s that? Well, there’s not a standard answer to that question. I mean they spend money for the album productions, the recordings, the promotion, the advertising and at the end they send some really poor MP3 for review! If this ain’t a paradox then I do not know how else to call it. They downgrade their own products! Why on earth will someone lessen the music quality of the work that has paid so much to create?!
Probably some younger guys won’t even mind with such a thing, but hey we didn’t grow up with an iPod and iTunes. If the young fans do not care about the music quality cuz’ they learned to listen to music that way… we shouldn’t pay the same price too. My generation grew up by getting the real thing. Cassettes, Vinyls & CDs. And we still support the physical products up to date. MP3s may be nice for the MP3-palyer, when going out for a walk or on the beach etc. but not for an actual good listen. That’s the damn truth.
I think it’s really inappropriate for labels and indie bands to send out poor MP3s for review and that won’t do them any good in the long term. I do hope one day they understand this thing and prefer to send FLAC or other files instead of the MP3 that uses a lossy compression algorithm. Let the music be heard properly!
PS1: Wow! Guys, take it easy… you might bite your tongue and end up poisoning yourselves! Respect other people’s opinions or is it too hard to admit that there’s a different opinion than your “own only right” one?! Keep hating if that’s the only thing you can do… you’re really good at it! There’s a total lack of education and good manners and that’s more than obvious! Hooray!
PS2: As the healthy and calm readers can see we have chosen the hard way to go since day one. Almost 12 years ago, we decided not to follow the easy way where good PR with every little untalented musician, label or crap band would give us a credit. We also turned down the “paid reviews” option. Some may enjoy mocking their readers but we don’t! We knew that we were gonna be hated so much… but at least we are still here! One of the very few independent web voices out there that says things differently and gives an alter perspective of how things may be. This is who we are and that’s what keeps us going for more than 12 years! If you can’t handle it then just let it go… say what you wanna say, follow trends but above all Respect the Rock!
PS3: This month’s Editorial is dedicated to the great guitarist and composer Jeff Hanneman who passed away so suddenly a few days ago. Jeff was one of those musicians who marked thrash metal music and influenced millions of bands & musicians with Slayer. May He Rest in Peace…