I'm a sucker for nostalgia. I recall my teenage wasteland and listening to records. That's vinyl records to those who grew up without them. I spent a lot of time in record stores. I can't shake calling an album a record. It makes referring to database records more fun too, just because of the word. Here's something you get at a physical record store (Reckless Records in Chicago on Record Store Day) that you can't get from online music stores. Free Posters!
The image of records and music is indelibly inked on my mind. Perhaps I'll get a tat someday too, so it'll be visibly etched on my skin. It's 22 minutes a side for an LP. Imagine. LP stands for Long Play record. A double LP is exciting for both the artist and the fan. All the inspiring artwork and images that accompany tunes on a double LP, I would pore over it for hours.
Quicker than a sinking newspaper, music on the Web and the digital format fully wrecked the record business. I got into computing in the late eighties because I knew what was coming. How many search marketers know that I had a career as a musician? Probably less than ten. How many know that I learned computing and search in order to learn how to succeed as an artist?
I can trace my thoughts all the way back to years before seeing Peter Gabriel in concert. The Peter Gabriel 'So' album was the first record, recorded entirely digitally, mastered digitally, and pressed onto compact disc - a new digital format back then. Yes, I'm a dinosaur, but for some reason, I sort of prefer it that way - please don't ask me why. It's probably because I love record stores.
A few years earlier, I had seen a LA Times piece about a new-fangled thing called a digital modem, and I determined then and there that music could (in theory) be transmitted computer-to-computer over PBX phone lines. I knew then and there that it was only a matter of time before people would begin doing so. I wanted to do so.
What a revelation it was for me! My first comment on a blog, (actually the precursor to blogs: a guest book) was exactly my rant about this possibility, announcing what I intended at the time. I wanted to start distributing music independent of a label, my music and the music of friends. I could get music out to the public without being a signed artist. I could be an online label for others. I was way ahead of my time. It was the mid-nineties. Only one search marketer has ever seen that post, and we laugh about it to this day.
Hearkening back to those great old days, and from even before then, I now have a radio show on the way with AirDisa. I am far more interested in getting back to my roots than moderating or speaking. Music, art, even fashion (yes!) and other topics I want to explore to extend the search marketing advice I will freely give away on the air. I'm really excited about Disa Johnson and AirDisa Multimedia. Multimedia. I'm a sucker for nostalgia.
I've moderated or appeared on conference panels for the last 10 years. I don't really need to moderate any longer. I admit, it's rather fun to help panelists shine, or at least communicate to the audience, even when I don't necessarily agree with what they are saying. I plan to continue to support Danny with his conference series, and will make very few exceptions to appear anywhere else.
So, here's today's coffee post for you. I'm at Reckless Records for Record Store Day, listening to musicians and browsing the tunes. They have a great domain, don't they? For this entry I took a quick coffee break so that I can enjoy a nice cup from Intelligentsia, which is a block and a half from the store. The store is moving even closer to Intelligentsia. All the more reason to call this a favorite spot to spend a great Saturday in Chicago, such a great music town. Enjoy!
Stay tuned.
After previewing this post, I checked Twitter and at least one follower is headed to Reckless Records today too. That's fairly awesome. A mini tweetup with jamesus. Yay!
The image of records and music is indelibly inked on my mind. Perhaps I'll get a tat someday too, so it'll be visibly etched on my skin. It's 22 minutes a side for an LP. Imagine. LP stands for Long Play record. A double LP is exciting for both the artist and the fan. All the inspiring artwork and images that accompany tunes on a double LP, I would pore over it for hours.
Quicker than a sinking newspaper, music on the Web and the digital format fully wrecked the record business. I got into computing in the late eighties because I knew what was coming. How many search marketers know that I had a career as a musician? Probably less than ten. How many know that I learned computing and search in order to learn how to succeed as an artist?
I can trace my thoughts all the way back to years before seeing Peter Gabriel in concert. The Peter Gabriel 'So' album was the first record, recorded entirely digitally, mastered digitally, and pressed onto compact disc - a new digital format back then. Yes, I'm a dinosaur, but for some reason, I sort of prefer it that way - please don't ask me why. It's probably because I love record stores.
A few years earlier, I had seen a LA Times piece about a new-fangled thing called a digital modem, and I determined then and there that music could (in theory) be transmitted computer-to-computer over PBX phone lines. I knew then and there that it was only a matter of time before people would begin doing so. I wanted to do so.
What a revelation it was for me! My first comment on a blog, (actually the precursor to blogs: a guest book) was exactly my rant about this possibility, announcing what I intended at the time. I wanted to start distributing music independent of a label, my music and the music of friends. I could get music out to the public without being a signed artist. I could be an online label for others. I was way ahead of my time. It was the mid-nineties. Only one search marketer has ever seen that post, and we laugh about it to this day.
Hearkening back to those great old days, and from even before then, I now have a radio show on the way with AirDisa. I am far more interested in getting back to my roots than moderating or speaking. Music, art, even fashion (yes!) and other topics I want to explore to extend the search marketing advice I will freely give away on the air. I'm really excited about Disa Johnson and AirDisa Multimedia. Multimedia. I'm a sucker for nostalgia.
I've moderated or appeared on conference panels for the last 10 years. I don't really need to moderate any longer. I admit, it's rather fun to help panelists shine, or at least communicate to the audience, even when I don't necessarily agree with what they are saying. I plan to continue to support Danny with his conference series, and will make very few exceptions to appear anywhere else.
So, here's today's coffee post for you. I'm at Reckless Records for Record Store Day, listening to musicians and browsing the tunes. They have a great domain, don't they? For this entry I took a quick coffee break so that I can enjoy a nice cup from Intelligentsia, which is a block and a half from the store. The store is moving even closer to Intelligentsia. All the more reason to call this a favorite spot to spend a great Saturday in Chicago, such a great music town. Enjoy!
Stay tuned.
After previewing this post, I checked Twitter and at least one follower is headed to Reckless Records today too. That's fairly awesome. A mini tweetup with jamesus. Yay!
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