Back for 2013!

So here it is, 2013. There’s been a notable gap between posts, which has probably ensured Sound of Music has gone on Blogger's scrapheap of unwanted blogs, abandoned after only two months of frantic, frenetic activity. Well. I’ve donned the golashes, swam in and rescued it from the wilderness. Sound of Music breathes again!

Why the delay? Well, there’s a couple of lessons learnt from December – don’t move in the last month of the year, unless you want your possessions to be dusted lightly with snow and while you might be in by Christmas, never ever forget the vital step that hits you when you walk through your new front door – unpacking. Oh yes, Santa bought more than just presents, there was the greatest gift of all of finding your own possessions in the very last box checked, every time.

Anyways, we’re in and now find ourselves in the New Year. Like many recent years, this again seems to be a cross-roads year for music. If you believe the scaremongers (not Simon Armitage’s band sadly, but well worth checking out nonetheless) amongst us, this will be the demise of high street music shops with notable reports predicting the loss of HMV.

If it's good enough for Elvis...

Once upon a time, stores like Virgin Records (then later Zavvi) and HMV were shunned in favour of the independents such as Track Records, Steelers Wheels to name but a few. Yet as the years rolled on, and online shopping grew, the independents have steadily collapsed with Sound It Out Records remaining one of the few last bastions of excellent record shops. Spin forward to 2013 and HMV feels as much like an independent music shop than ever before, just because it’s not a supermarket and you can’t get Nectar points.

So does it mean that we don’t want physical music? There’s clearly an appetite for hard copy if Amazon’s sales-ranks are anything to go by. There’s been a resurgence in the vinyl industry thanks in part to advancements with technology (USB Vinyl Record Player, sexy no?) and the fact that anyone can have a go at being their own DJ. The only thing missing is the revival of the C90s, yet their spirit lives on – who hasn’t taken the concept of the mix-tape and burnt it to a flimsy CDR with accompanying sleeve notes?

Probably more CDs here then in the local branch of HMV.

Despite downloads remaining cheap and now incorporating more artists than ever before (you can AC/DC’s back-catalogue, that’s a whole lotta Rosie and more), there will always be a market for proper old-fashioned CDs, not least because those who remember CDs being introduced and grew up with them  still aspire to have a collection bigger than their parents. There will always be time for a lazy Sunday afternoon leafing through lyrics, admiring the artwork while a CD spins in the player. There will always be that moment when friends come round, find that ultra cheesy early 90s CD you tried to hide behind a much cooler artist but also leave with your back collection of Flaming Lips to return at a much later date (complete with cat hair).

Here’s hoping this is the year the music shops stay open across the land, whether independent, high street or other – if you can no longer buy your favourite band’s album on the day of the release, run home, tear open the packaging and listen to it on max volume then the world’s going to be a far sadder place..