Here’s an interesting article at Times Online which suggests that younger people prefer the tinnier sound of digital music to analogue which people over a certain age seem to prefer. I always presumed that a good MP3 player was perfectly acceptable, until I heard my friend’s stereo system playing vinyl (over £5,000′s worth)- the difference was incredible!
“Many people complain that pop music was better in the good old days. Arctic Monkeys and Lily Allen are poor substitutes for the Beatles and Bob Dylan, the argument goes.
Older fans also insist that songs heard through iPods just don’t rock as they used to, compared with the clarity of CDs and the crackling charm of vinyl.
Research has shown, however, that today’s iPod generation prefers the tinnier and flatter sound of digital music, just as previous generations preferred the grainier sounds of vinyl. Computers have made music so easy to obtain that the young no longer appreciate high fidelity, it seems.
The theory has been developed by Jonathan Berger, Professor of Music at Stanford University, California. For the past eight years his students have taken part in an experiment in which they listen to songs in a variety of different forms, including MP3s, a standard format for digital music. “I found not only that MP3s were not thought of as low quality, but over time there was a rise in preference for MP3s,” Professor Berger said.”
It’s all a trade-off, really. I can understand the logic of “better low-quality music on the go than none at all”, and I generally follow that logic. But I worked for a few years at a concert hall with an old-school rocker a few years my senior who would have none of it: full-quality or nothing, and I could appreciate his perspective.
But one of the things I’ve noticed since the digitization of music is that it just doesn’t feel special anymore. This may just be an age thing (I’ve just entered my 30′s, which studies have shown are a very depressive time for men due to a variety of external and physiological factors). Or maybe it’s because of subtle harmonic inadequacies in my digital music that I don’t even consciously pick up anymore.
But for my money, it’s because music is so easily accessible. I suppose that’s not a bad thing, but I do remember when I was a teenager – when CD’s were at their height but a few years before MP3 (or even CD-copying) was common. There was always such a palpable excitement before the release of a new album. No leaks on the internet, no samples – only the singles played on the radio, maybe a CD single, and often only a “cassingle”. If you couldn’t afford the album yourself, the best you could hope for was a cassette copy from a friend. Getting the actual CD for your own collection was a point of pride, and the process of lovingly crafting a mix tape for a friend was a great way of bonding over music – you had to take your time to really think through what you wanted to include on your very limited medium.
Maybe I’m just being an old grump.