ARTWORK & LINER NOTES!!!!
Boy I know I'm opening a can of worms here, but.......
Does anyone besides me miss this. Even with CD, the first thing I do with a new product as I'm listening is to look at the art then look who recorded & produced it, the read the liner notes. I used to enjoy holding a big Album jacket. This is so small with CDs, Now with ITunes you can download a JPEG of the cover and maybe some info. My dad has this great album collection of old jazz guitarists and western swing. Some of the album jackets now only listed the players / studios and engineers, but what mic was used on what instrument. ANYONE??????? What about the gatefold on Queen's JAZZ Album???? Or the inside cover to Jellyfish's SPILT MILK Album?????????????
Does anyone besides me miss this. Even with CD, the first thing I do with a new product as I'm listening is to look at the art then look who recorded & produced it, the read the liner notes. I used to enjoy holding a big Album jacket. This is so small with CDs, Now with ITunes you can download a JPEG of the cover and maybe some info. My dad has this great album collection of old jazz guitarists and western swing. Some of the album jackets now only listed the players / studios and engineers, but what mic was used on what instrument. ANYONE??????? What about the gatefold on Queen's JAZZ Album???? Or the inside cover to Jellyfish's SPILT MILK Album?????????????
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Glenn Meadows on -
Part of cost cutting.
Working at a label (albeit a small one), the costs just run up and up with printing, etc to do all of that now. As costs get squeezed more and more, ti becomes harder to justify spending a ton on printing, when so much of the product (physical) ends up being returned and scrapped.
Don't get me started, that whole discussion is for another topic, another day. Now that I'm on the label side of things, I see a whole lot more than I used to, when on the engineer/studio side. It's actually quite scarry from this side of the world folks, looking at the overall picture at retail, as well as online.
Glenn.
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Permalink Reply by Bret Teegarden on -
Glenn,
This kind of discussion is SO helpful to everyone involved in the industry. We need to learn lessens from the ants where they all work together and EVERYBODY eats!
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Permalink Reply by Mark Capps on -
Glenn I think you missed my point. The prestige, mistique & greatness of the long-playing album is gone. I'm sure that you worked on some of the jazz & swing albums that I was referring to and know what we are all missing in the product we are left with today, and I wasn't talking about what the indies are up against with the bottom line, i'm talking about the things that made us want to be in the music business to begin with. What was your inpriration when you first started? What was it that that made you say to yourself, "This Is What I Want To Do With My Life" come hell or high water something sparked each and everyone of us. With your current point of view you might as well go to Office Max and stare at the new version of Quickbooks if that is what the music business is to you these days. If anyone out there wants to truely be inspired, go online (ironic) and order Bruce Swedien's Book "Make Mine Music". Here is a man that started inspired and still to this day gets excited about the music and magic of the studio. If anyone out there wants my opinion about the state of the studio business, go and read my blog titled "Class Action Suit Against Digidesign".
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Permalink Reply by Joshua Jove' on -
I'm with ya. I do the same thing when I first buy a cd. I open it, (which is always a pain..) put the cd in, turn up the volume, then take out the booklet and start reading away while enjoying the first track.
I rarely use Itunes though so the mystique isn't quite gone for me. The passed few cd's I've purchased had some decent reading inside.
I love on Paul McCartney's "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" how he lists all the instruments played including brand and model etc. Similar to your description of the old jazz records.
Jove
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Permalink Reply by Bret Teegarden on
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Mark,
It's interesting hearing the comments of the previous two. They are both young men starting out in the music business.
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Permalink Reply by Will and Crystal Yates on
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The first thing I used to do when I got a CD was scour the liner notes to see who did what, who played what, where they recorded it, and any little extras along the way. I really got into Dann Huff, Lee Sklar, Greg Phillanganes, guys like that, which really inspired me and the way I play now. Also lots of you folks that are on this website too have been in that same category for me..... =>
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Permalink Reply by Mark Capps on
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My God People, I feel really sad for you all. I'm not much older than some of you posters but I'm not the norm because of who my dad is and the amount of music I had around he house as a kid. Mellon Collie was a beautiful CD, I would wish this upon you. The next day off you have, got to The Great Escape or Grimeys (both used record stores) and just browse through the LPs. Don't buy, just look at all the great artwork from albums past, and see where it takes you, in your imagination..............
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Permalink Reply by Joe Hogue 'JOJOHO' on -
Why has no one started a website that would upload all the liner notes. I would LOVE to be able to read the credits on records I download or listen to on Rhapsody. For me that was part of learning how records are made by seeing who did what and where etc... Any tech heads wanna go at that idea. www.linernotes.com or albumcredits.com. you get the idea!!!
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Permalink Reply by Joshua Jove' on
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Joe,
Have you been to www.allmusic.com?
That's been a great source for me. You can type in a musician/engineer/artist and they will come up. You then have the option of checking that persons credits, discography, etc. It has it's flaws but is the best I've found for an online resource.
I would love to see a site that had the actual liner notes though with artwork and everything. With the popularity of Itunes and such, I think you could even make a business out of it by making them downloadable and easily printable. Of course, you'd have to pay/give credit to the proper people..
Cool idea though!
J
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Permalink Reply by Irene Kelly Gaines on -
Mark, I really relate to what your saying. With my first release, I made it a point to pay the extra cost for a four page full color double paneled CD insert with full lyrics and pictures. Not cause I think I'm "perty" but for the very reason you started this discussion. Remember when band members were a mystery? You didn't know what they looked like till the albums came out. You would just buy the album and sit in a comfy spot, with a coke and read those liner notes, dream about being in the picture and escaping to whereverland...awe!!! that's what I wanted to be for someone. My husband Tim, also new on this site has over 600 vinyl albums that were just sitting there on a shelf. I bought him a PC compatible turntable so he can relive the good days. I must admit that was a little dangerous, he can spend a whole day locked away with his music. So here's to words and pictures and finding out who's doing what on which album.
Renie
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Permalink Reply by Scott Velazco on -
Yes. yes yes yes. The romance of a new album is gone. Physical touch is my language of love. I need something to hold in my hands. Album artwork and liner notes are all important to building a relationship between the musician and the listener.
The loss of these elements is the next step in reducing the musician's role in the music. Perhaps the reason that the public doesn't care about how music piracy hurts the artist is because they've lost that personal relationship with the MAKERS of the music. They view the music as an independent product instead of seeing it as an extension of an artist.
You had me at Spilt Milk. I'm joining your fan club.
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Permalink Reply by Dustin Ward on
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I hear ya, I always read the Liners!!!!
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