Tear Down The Internet
“What seems to be the case–and I could be wrong about this, but I doubt it–is that people like the process of downloading more than they like listening to whatever it is they’ve acquired. The biggest thrill of downloading “Electric Avenue” has almost nothing to do with Eddy Grant; the thrill is that (a) downloading is kind of like socially sanctioned crime and that (b) downloading actually works. Years after the Napster revolution, music fans remain amazed that they suddenly can own “Seven Nation Army” or “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” in less than 30 seconds. What people love isn’t the music, but the accessibility; it’s a way to experience the acceleration of culture in hyperreal time. And I’m sure this has happened before. I assume there were dudes in 1793 who simply thought using the cotton gin was way cool, even if they never cared how many pairs of trousers it enabled them to own.”
Chuck Klosterman (author of “Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs“) recently wrote an article in Spin Magazine regarding the pheonmenon of downloading music off the Internet. He has some very good points in my opinion and I highly recommend checking out the article.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 30th, 2003 at 12:34 pm and is filed under music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
