In a recent interview
by the UK Financial Times with Canadian rock legend Neil Young, the
Godfather of Grunge had less than flattering things to say about iTunes,
and most “new digital media technologies” for that matter. In sum,
his complaint is that while MP3 services are great for convenience
“the sound quality sucks”.
To combat the rise of easy-to-get but
relatively lower quality MP3s, Young is in talks with record companies
about licensing an alternative digital platform. This platform would
have superior sound quality, and could potentially provide a new
business model for music. Details are scarce, but it seems that this new
“platform” would not involve downloading at all, and may involve
purchasing music on Blu-ray disks.
As much as I respect Neil Young as an artist
and musician, I must point out that he has always positioned himself
against technological change in the music industry. He’s the kind of
dude that still prefers vinyl records to CDs, and records
his modern albums on analog gear even though modern, high end
digital recording gear offers dead-on sound quality.
As heated as the debate over MP3 and CD / Vinyl
sound quality may get, when it comes down to it, only the most hard core
“audiophile” (one of the most pretentious terms ever, by
the way), equipped with a high end sound system would be able to note
the extremely subtle differences in quality between a CD and, say, a 320
kbps MP3. Is this difference big enough for the average listener to
forgo the convenience of digital downloads? Not to me, and from
the looks of recent iTunes sales, not to most.
