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Originally Posted by darkanddivine
Yep. Splashed plenty of cash on this band; CDs tours and stuff, and the final physical album I bought was JFPL. That said, this is true of other bands I like also, and this makes me wonder if it's anything to do with much other than the tech than any level of fandom. Though having said that, you'd think if any generation would buy CDs it would be this one.
I first subbed to Spotify in 09. And like iTunes and iPods before it, streaming and downloading started to make more sense in the early 2010s, which hits all music sales. You don't get a CD player in your new car around this time, so you stream off your phone don't you? I reckon that shift to the phone being the dominant tech in the 10s changes everything because it's your CD player, your camera, your alarm clock etc, so most people naturally choose the easy option which is to ditch the music purchases and stick to streaming.
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Funnily enough, only the other week I realised there actually is a CD player in my car. For some reason it's hidden in the glove box. Bluetooth with the phone, for Spotify and Bandcamp is all I use when on the go anyway. Bluetooth earphones have made it even easier.
The last physical manics album I bought was Futurology. But I think I will pick this new one up, the next time I'm in a record shop. I'd still buy vinyls of albums I like, or pay for it on Bandcamp. I think it's a shame to see so many brilliant young bands struggle, and basically have to do it part time, while trying to hold down jobs elsewhere. There's so many bands now who would have been on main stages at festivals 25 plus years ago, had they existed then. Who are now confined to club size venues.
The Manics are having a good time of it now, When RIF came out, I hated it so much, that I thought they needed to stop. But I'm glad they didn't. When you see the state more main stream rock music, especially in a live sense, with big festivals and gigs, it almost feels like it's starting to bottom out. 25 or so years of the big corporate side of the industries ever dwindling interest in promoting new music, is really starting to show. Most big gigs now are legacy acts. It won't be long until idiots are handing over 80 quid or more to see a holograms of dead pop/rock stars.
Not that I see the manics as a legacy act. They've never stopped recording, touring and doing their own thing. I'm happy they're still at it. Listening to the new album brought back some nice memories of days long past, when the world wasn't such a bloody awful place.