Surface_Tension wrote:I don't think it's a conspiracy, so much as a bad decision on their part to debut a tune so far from it's release date. I can see getting some radio play, breaking the tune, letting people forget about it for a while and then unleashing the furious promo a couple months out. Nothing wrong with that.
I think there's something wrong with playing a track out for a year, constantly having others play it out while waiting... by the time it comes out, everyone has moved on to the next thing. In a genre this dynamic, by the time something releases, it's yesterdays news, and the sound is stale, for the most part. I guess what I've been getting at and people keep missing, is that saturation can be a very bad thing.
Why don't 90% of us turn on terrestrial radio these days?
And there's the point. It's because you will hear the same rotation, etc. and it's old and stale.
there are basically three points i perceive lurking around in this topic:
1) the artist's right to do what the fuck they want with their own tunes, regardless of whether the end goal is fun or sales.
2) the listener's assumption that consumption of said music in a timely manner is an inherent right.
3) dubplate culture: freshmaker or eventual yawn inducer?
my thoughts:
1) the artist has a right to do what the fuck they want with their own tunes. period. if their goal is sales, they might want to rethink the caning a tune for a year strategy. that is all.
2) product consumption is not a "right". we live in a capitalist society where acquisition has taken precedence through manufactured demand. do i "need" a new record/tune? no, i WANT. and that want is just as manufactured as the product.
3) dubplate culture is many times a manufacturer of the "want" that i stated above. it's one way to tease people into wanting something to satiate those consumer urges. however, like any teasing, there is a point at which it becomes perceived as torturous.
with music culture, there is also this perception of NEW meaning BETTER. we always want the new. new new new new. at some point, we stop thinking about the music itself, and just think new new new new. this is also a product of super acquisition mindset, and is based in EGO, not in connection with the music. you also have the ability to say "i don't like being teased" and not buy the tune when it eventually trickles down to you. that would be one way to say "i don't like your tactics".
these are just my observations. i am not saying i am RIGHT or that there is just one way to think about any of these things.
all the people getting all snitty in this thread would do well to remember that we all have perspectives. and there is usually a grain of truth and/or vision in many different ones. there isn't any WINNING here. please stop acting like fucking middle schoolers bumping chests on the playground.