Saturday, October 30, 2004:

from somewhere on the Long Tail

Teddy Randazzo -- Shall We Gather at the Boat Dock
Joseph Mullendore -- Requiem for a Sideman
Thought I'd drop a couple tracks today from a CD compilation that a friend turned me on to; the compilation is one of out-of-print LPs digitized by Basic Hip Digital Oddio. The compilations are organized by theme, and both of the ones that I've heard have some real gems on them. These tracks are both from the Soundtracks Of The Sixties Volume 1 and are, as you might expect, orchestral jazz; the CDs had them at 320kbps, really great sound, but I've dropped them down to 128 here so they're quicker to download.

Historically about 95% of everything published goes out of print and stays out of print. With the evidence of online music sales--that everything sells for the right price, and typically does so every month, many times--maybe that will change. Here's hoping: there are some fantastic pieces that haven't ever been rereleased. Wired's article on The Long Tail article argues (convincingly, I think) that even the misses can be hits in a digital store. And I think digitizing and offering an entire label's catalogue, once you get past the initial outlay, could be hugely profitable, especially on these big labels, where they have just acres and acres of vinyl. (So much to explore, you'd never run out--you'd just need some network to poke around, making connections clear--either a database of who worked with whom, or "if you like x have you heard y?"... And maybe a "random" function like you get sometimes in real vinyl collections.... It could be a music geek's paradise).

On that note, I'm still (periodically) looking for this one version of a Cannonball Adderly track I heard nearly 10 years ago. It would be much easier to have it available for download than to have to try to track the record down in hopes of digitizing it. I'd gladly pay the 99¢.
Get hip

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