With the tremendous success of iTunes -- the commercial digital music store launched by Apple -- the MP3 debate has ignited once again. Artists managed by Q Prime Management Co. (namely, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica) are claiming that the selling and/or sharing of digital music on the internet is contributing to "the demise of the album format." \nMarc Reiter, a spokesperson for Q Prime, contends that, for the artists, the dilemma is more a "creative issue than a financial issue." In the eyes of Reiter and his artists, downloading songs merely trivializes what the album signifies -- a representative opus of the life of the artist at a given moment.\nWhile their principled argument for artistic integrity is commendable, is it justified? After all, since its release last month, Metallica's latest album "St. Anger" has consistently held one of the top five spots for record sales on the Billboard charts. \nOpponents of the digital music revolution need to realize two things: attempts to rid the world of digital music are futile, and most music lovers are going to buy the albums of their favorite artists no matter how many songs they download. The amazing demand for both sold and shared digital music seems to suggest something about consumer opinion.\nThe market price of a new CD is usually $16-$19; that's quite a bit of money for one album and, much like DVDs, consumers nowadays want more bang for their buck. Most DVDs are judged by their integrity as a package. No matter how good a movie is, the DVD will gain little praise unless it has superior sound and picture quality and a good number of special features.\nIt seems CDs are going in the same direction. Artists can't simply throw a bunch of tracks on to a disc, put some thank you's in the liner notes, add a cool graphic and expect to get close to $20 for their sad effort. \nMusicians need to print all the lyrics, show pictures from the recording sessions, recount stories behind the songs, give biographical information about the artists, provide interactive material on the CD itself. When this happens, the CD truly becomes a "body of work," as Marc Reiter would put it. In fact, to allow CDs to fall in the same path as DVDs would help support the idea of Metallica and others that the album is a temporal reflection of the artist's life. \nBands like Green Day, Linkin Park, Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers are losing ground in their resistance to the digital music revolution. Their arguments grow stale in the light of so many artists (Alanis Morissette, Madonna, the Deftones) who welcome the success of iTunes.\nThe digital revolution will move forward with or without the support of its opponents. Metallica, the bell tolls for thee.
-- Vincent Carr for the Editorial Board
