Access.

     Perhaps the most exciting aspect of music on the internet is access to it. Immediately I was consumed by the amount, diversity, & speed of availability. I was literally like a posessed “kid in a candy-store.”

     It was at  this point where my over-entusiasm combined with naivety led to quite a degree of time being wasted later down the track. So excited was I at being able to instantly access the likes of The Rolling Stones “Hand Of Fate” live from their 1975 tour that I’d soon forget where it had been ‘saved’ as I whizzed on to look & listen to Warren Zevon live at ‘The Roxy‘ belting out “Lawyers, Guns & Money.”

     As the initial weeks & months progressed I was amassing a phenomonal amount of material that I didn’t even know existed, particularly the material of Bob Dylan. Such is Dylans’ literary prowess as far as output is involved, his “Never Ending Tour” has seen countless hours of audio & video material available to the point where it is so difficult for him to legally control that, musically, he is ‘transparent.’ Watching one of his live bootleg videos of “Shelter From The Storm” gives an almost unnerving insight into the man. This is something of a paradox when one considers how difficult it is to ‘capture’ or ‘categorise’ Dylan outside of his profession. 

     This is in direct parallel to the first ‘supergroup‘, “Cream.” Due to the less self-serving attitude of their manager, Robert Stigwood, who had any material produced by the band so tightly guarded legally that the only available versions of the likes of “Tales Of Brave Ullyses” can only be sought in their rather brief discography, albeit fo $1 at a car-boot sale. 

Cover of Things Have Changed

     Such limited availability flies in the face of Dylans obsessive outlook in regard to illicit profit being made from anything relating to him. This was evident even before he was ‘known.’ His early near-neurotic viewpoint on this seems to be totally out of his reach today & no doubt his line of interest. I guess one could say he “….used to care, but things have changed.”

     There is also the issue of ‘value for money‘  for the consumer. One doesn’t have to go out & actually purchase an album &, typically, discover that two….or three at best….tracks are the only ones that they really enjoy or indeed want. One can ‘stream’ a vast array of material free on iLike purely for the pleasure of it without paying a cent. Free! You can then go to iTunes, Amazon or Rhapsody & the likes & only download the ones that take your fancy. Risk-free.

     Baring in mind my limited time on the internet combined with my somewhat tunnel-visioned tastes in music it is wise, from the outset, to take some time preparing ‘categories’ and easily-accessible areas for your music. Imagine being given the task of ‘organising’ the largest music library that you can; because that’s what you have at your fingertips. What a gig! It certainly would have saved me a lot of time and stress. Then again it’s only rock & roll…..but I like it.

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