I don't think anyone doubts that the MP3 revolution has been
a good thing for music - I mean besides all of the label executives who keep
telling us that the music industry is dying as a result of it.
Jason Toal, however, thinks that we did lose something when
taping walked the plank, and so he's decided to try and figure out exactly what
that is by studying people's dusty old tape collections.
I think there is something missing however in this new
fangled era of fast and easy digital music, and it is through the study of
tapes that I hope to uncover some of what we have lost from the analogue days.
It seems to me that music was more 'fun' back then, not just a bunch of files
and downloads and bits and bytes. My guess is, we have lost the personal
connection to our media, the emotional touch, and increasingly, the ability to
'give' musical artifacts to others.
His blog,
My Cassette Collection, documents individual
collections that may be languishing in a dusty closet somewhere, or in some
cases, still in use. Jason is always on the lookout for collections, so he'd be
delighted if you could help him out.
