Did anyone see the Rolling Stone article?

As far as mastering music for crappy playback systems goes, that's been happening since at least the 70's. I remember seeing a rare glimpse of the goings on in a recording studio during a Hall & Oates(?) session. The producer was doing a mixdown using these pathetic little speakers. He said he did this because the big speakers made everything sound good. Uh huh.

Maybe the real question is if anything in Rolling Stone has any real validity. I don't know an adult over 40 that even reads that rag. And I rarely see it on news stands. Sure there are always doomsayers yapping about how CDs and the music industry are dying. But how many of them really know anything?
And if the music business is so bad, why are major act concerts bringing in big dollars everywhere. We were just at a sold out Billy Joel concert three weeks ago - and the cheap tickets started at $65.00.

This goes back to an old post I made where I thought that there is TOO MUCH music (noise) all the time wherever you go - supermarket, restaurant, gas station, everywhere - and all very poor quality. No silence or just the sound of life. It's crappy music blaring at everyone from every direction, all the time. So, then what value is there to music? To most people it is just background noise, they have never heard anything better and want this noise as cheaply as possible, to I guess drown out the sounds of life. Buy what you can now, it's only going to get worse. But one can hope I guess.

"can you describe the article in a bit more detail, as i don't subscribe to RS (or watch much TV)? thanks."
It was about how engineers are now mastering the music for these ipods and small computer speakers right in the studio. So it seems to me we may be longing for the days of the cd's made in the 80's. It was giving examples of albums that were compressed in the studio vs. ones not compressed and how this could be the future of mastering. Basically it was saying people just don't care about sound quality anymore. I realize most of us already know this - but I found it particularly poignant since I just got a new SACD player the week it came out. At least before you just had to find the best stereo you could afford to listen to your music. Now you're going to have to pay a premium for what should just be the standard quality in CD, LP's etc.

can you describe the article in a bit more detail, as i don't subscribe to RS (or watch much TV)? thanks.
PS- i know i'm an INCREDIBLE BORE, but i have to reiterate that i enjoy RADIO news and entertainment more than TV.

I find that in this culture where everything is becoming more accessible and portable, people just like gadgets that distract them. They don't care about putting in quality, but they want quality in return.

Sounds strange, but let me make myself clear-I have always hated cellphones. My friends would always rant and rave about me needing one, but I figured out why. It is their excuse for being late all of the time or just purposely not being where they are supposed to be.

Also, listen in on an average cellphone conversation-

Ex.#1-"Hi, I'm calling to see if mommy cooked."

Ex.#2-Person already 15 minutes late to an appointment and is 30 minutes away from destination-
"Yeah, whats' up? I'm almost there-I'll see you in 5 minutes!!"

Or my favorites-someone is talking on the phone when they should be paying attention to what they are doing and/or where they are going, like crossing the street.

People want to be distracted by all this because it makes them feel busy and important, but the bottom line is good audio demands your attention, it demands that you put in as much if not more than what you expect out of it, and the average person is not capable of this.

This is why so many marriages end in divorce and why people cannot get into what the soul of a good sound system is-your input.

I know none of my friends care that I only make purchases depending on whether the music was remastered or not. Quality is important to me, as is taking care of my cd collection and my system and getting to know the history of the artists and the movements they are/were a part of.

But there will always be people like me-small in number, but we matter to those who are coming out with high-end audio equipment.

And I finally purchased a cellphone for emergencies, like calling home to find out if anyone bothered to cook or not.

old news....as a culture, art and music are not perceived as being worth much, if anything. the only way you change this is in our schools.......whatever happened to glee club, and music appreciation classes?

That's what they said 20 years ago when home theater was coming onto the scene.