Apr 5, 2010

Is the CD Dead or just demoted? Part Three Alex Pfender from Yoya responds


I spent the morning today listening to the mixes of the new yOya album, "nothing to die". Great songs, great recording. As the band gets ready to unleash this acoustic/electronic masterpiece on the world I thought Alex might have an interesting take on the current status of the Compact Disc.
1) Do you think it is important to have your music available to fans on Compact Disc?
Yes, because people are still very used to it. The ipod might be the most common way for people to listen to their music collections, but they're used to putting music that they've stolen or ripped or borrowed or whatever on there. It's not like bands are going out selling ipods. The CD, for most people, is still the most current physical representation of music that you buy.

2) What are the reasons you do or don't make CDs?
We make em because that's all we've ever made so, we're not sure if other stuff will work better but we know that our fans have bought CDs in the past. And because practically all releases, major or indie or self, are released on CD

3) If you have CDs available, what price do you sell them at?
$10

4) Have you seen the iTunes LP yet? What did you think?
I saw it briefly about 5 months ago or something, when they did a big press release for it. It seems cool, at first I thought it'd be lame to sit on a computer and look at the art for an album but the more I thought about it the more I thought it'd be cool to check out my favorite new releases that way. I think it's cool. isn't it super expensive though?

5) Do you offer FLAC downloads? Can you play a FLAC file on your system?
No and no. I'm not sure there are enough people that really want it. One of my friends that's got huge online presence says he was hesitant to offer them even after many people requested it, because it was just too much work. I'm not sure if he ever did it.


6) Does your act participate in any carbon credits or green programs to offset the environmental impact of CDs?

Nope. I'd like to learn more about that. I'd also like to just buy non-plastic CD stuff but it's way more expensive to do.

7) Why has there been a resurgence of interest in vinyl records?
There's also been a resurgence of interest in cassette tapes, and I think it's just because there's a lot of confusion about what format is best, or whether formats are any good at all (i.e. should everything just be files). I've also gathered that many people think vinyl sounds better no matter what (this confuses me), and as far as cassettes i think they just have some sort of kitsch value, both in just buying and holding a cassette tape, and in the poor sound quality. A friend of mine that's really into recording onto cassette does so because he thinks modern recordings are too homogenized in their sound due to DAWs and stuff. I also think that because they are linked to classic music in people's minds, that increases their perceived value.


Click Here for some pictures of yOya tracking harmonium and autoharp in my studio.
And you can preview the new tracks on Garageband.com
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