Monday, May 26, 2008
"I Need That Record" is a documentary feature examining why over 3000 independent record stores have closed across the U.S. in the past decade. Are they going to die off? Will they survive?
Since the 1890s the record store was THE place to go for prerecorded music, but today the way we access and consume music has been redefined by technology. Ecommerce, iTunes, the iPod, P2P networks, music blogs, and social networking sites have all had a profound impact on the way we access music and on the state of the independent record store.
Downloading and pirating seem to be the easy answers to the chaotic state of the music industry, but higher powers like major labels, big box stores (Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy etc.), and corporate owned FM radio are also shaking things up.
The music industry has always been a unique marriage of art and commerce, but today commerce has proved to be the ultimate influence. Rather than develop great acts, embrace new technology, offer affordable products; the major labels are more concerned with turning the clocks back to preserve old business models- with only one thing in mind- THE BOTTOM LINE.
Keep the full paid expense accounts and 7 figure incomes. Keep suing fans. Keep shoving bland music down people's throats that will sell x amounts. Keep producing homogenized radio programs that play the same 50 songs. Keep supporting big box businesses that could care less about music; businesses that sell music below list price.
Check page 2 for INTR trailer.
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