Peter Ulrich
Former Dead Can Dance Drummer on the Future of Record Stores
The back catalogue of lush British darkwave band Dead Can Dance (featuring Lisa Gerrard, Brendan Perry and Peter Ulrich ) on the 4AD Label was released on Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD) on June 2, 2008. The music was re-mastered by US company Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs who also did back catalogues for Pink Floyd and Grateful Dead.
But these days as technological advancements zoom ahead of the everyman, Dead Can Dance's passionate ex-percussionist who recently released his own solo work, Enter The Mysterium, and whose Mysterium track "The Scryer and the Shewstone" was featured on folkwave collection John Barleycorn Reborn, has a few things to say about the way the world interacts with music. Here are 7 reasons why the music industry and music retail can still play a vital part in that process.
Suite 101: You have been involved in music for a long time, from Dead Can Dance to your own solo work, Enter the Mysterium. How do you feel about how people buy and interact with music these days?
Peter Ulrich : "The age of the digital download has been widely touted as the death knoll for physical music formats and the music retail industry. If this does turn out to be the case, it will only be down to an inexcusable and, frankly, inexplicable lack of vision on the part of the retailers."
Suite 101: You feel people still want to physically buy music?
Peter Ulrich: "I have many reasons why people still want to buy music in formats such as CD, vinyl and tape. Here are 7 of them: One - most digital downloads are in basic mp3 format - a heavily compressed file suited to rapid download and occupying minimal disc storage space. The result, of course, is that the quality is poor."
Suite 101: That’s true. Who really wants to enjoy their favourite song like that?
Peter Ulrich: "Two - Most people will then listen to these poor quality mp3 files on PCs or personal mp3 players with speakers or headphones with severely limited dynamics and sonic range. The result is that the quality gets worse still. Three - A huge number of households have high quality mid-range hi-fi or audiophile music systems and, although many of these now have iPod docks (or equivalent) incorporated for mp3 playback, their owners also want to continue using their CD players, record decks and tape machines."
Suite 101: Exactly -- everyone has invested money in buying all this music technology and some are still in the process of switching over. Others may not even have access to or choose not to have the Internet.
Peter Ulrich: "Four- While free downloads and "illegal file" swapping provide a great source of music for low income groups - particularly teenagers and students - people with disposable income remain prepared to pay for physical "albums" of the music they like."
Suite 101: Yes of course. Hurray for tangible media!
Peter Ulrich: "Five - There are still many people who like the physical "package" that you get when you buy a CD or a record, complete with cover art, information booklet and the audio format. OK, all these things can be downloaded, but by the time you've downloaded the complete package and found some way to assemble it all for storage and reference purposes, surely you'd have been better off buying the genuine retail package?"
Suite 101: Definitely. For collectors that's a no brainer. They just do not have the mind set to collect their music and packaging through the downloading process.
Peter Ulrich: "Six - Just about everybody realises that getting music for nothing is not sustainable, and I believe there is evidence to suggest that most of us are prepared to pay for the music we love in order to support the artists who make it. That leads me to my seventh reason. Everyone needs a break from the PC and most of us still like to go shopping in real shops with real people, and music retailers can benefit from this as much as any other retail sector if they get the formula right."
Suite 101: Yes, the whole music buying thing is a very social process particularly in the independently owned record stores....
Peter Ulrich: "And there is one other significant point I would raise here - that the burning ambition of new, upcoming artists / bands largely remains the holy grail of securing a deal with a record label and releasing a physical album. All musicians know that anyone with a basic microphone, PC, soundcard and home recording software can record a song and make it available on the internet as a digital download, such that there is little or no kudos in being able to say 'We've got our songs available on the web'".
The recording deal still means that a label has actively selected that artist/band from the huge mass of contenders and said "You're good enough for us to invest in and record and promote your album". Kids in their bedrooms still dream of signing the deal, releasing the debut album on CD and getting the 5-star review in the NME or Rolling Stone.
