The Decibel Tolls

First Muzak and now this news; Touch and Go Records is shuttering its distribution arm and laying off staff in response to that economic crisis thing.  Perhaps it’s not surprising given that most labels have been absolutely decimated not only by the economy but by the sea change in music consumers’ purchasing behavior.

The major labels have long operated based on a ’swing for the fences’ business model with the presumption that pouring enough money into a release can somehow strongarm it into being a hit.  But despite the deep pockets, majors have historically released 9 losers for every winner.  Touch and Go, on the other hand, relied on shoe-string budgets and word-of-mouth promotion to goose its releases.  Needless to say, its downfall doesn’t bode well for the state of less robust indie labels.

With that backdrop, let me wax on ya about the sheer volume of music available and the effect it’s having on listening habits.  The other night I found myself on Last.fm until I had to prop my eyelids open with pencils.  It was like diving into a swimming pool full of Oreos with a pint of milk in hand.  Sheer bliss for a while as I reveled in the limitless pleasures available, but ultimately disappointing as I realized the limits to my physical capabilities.

At some point in the past 10 years I stopped listening to albums and started listening to songs.  It began innocently enough with mix tapes.  These were purely labors of love with hours spent winding and rewinding tape, scattering CDs across the floor and avoiding the ultimate mix tape sin – having the tape run out in the middle of a song.  But with the constant evolution from CD changers to MP3 players, the ability to instantly call up an obscure cut from your library of thousands of files (formerly known as “songs”) became universally available.

It used to be that buying CDs was a near-religious experience.  Bringing it home, dropping it in the tray and scouring the liner notes while relaxing on the sofa.  It was an event.  More recently I sit at the laptop with earbuds and skim through a limitless amount of streams, samples and downloads.  We’ve gone from a fine dining experience to the Golden Corral buffet.

There’s an upside here.  As consumers we can easily access a massive variety of music from our homes.  Buying music used to mean taking a risk and, at $12 a pop, not a cheap one.  One way of separating the wheat from the shit used to be trust in labels.  SST, Sub Pop, Touch and Go, Creation, what-have-you.  Labels established reputations and reputations created allegiances.  I can’t help but wonder whether the decline of label relevancy has hurt the established names in the biz.

So what say you all?  Is the online distribution and sampling of music making labels less relevant?  Rather than plunking down $12 on a Touch and Go release do you spread your dollars around?

The average listener who consumes major label hits probably isn’t going to stray into Touch and Go territory.  But the avid music fan – Touch and Go’s core audience – is likely to stray elsewhere if given the opportunity at no risk.

Regardless of what precipitated the decline, Touch and Go is an icon in the indie world and its releases will live on long after the label.  Here’s a few gems just to jog your memory a bit (and maybe even spur you to purchase the entire album).

MP3 :::
Brainiac – Kiss Me, You Jacked Up Jerk
The Black Heart Procession – The Old Kind of Summer
Bad Livers – Jesus is on the Mainline