Going Green in the Recorded Music Industry
Environmentalism isn’t the first thing that usually comes to mind when we think about music. Sure there was that period during the 1960s and the early 1970s that everything was focused on peace and love and trying to go back to nature, but the last part didn’t really take root and spread in a really big way. The peace and love portion had a more successful run and produced the hippie generation. But that was some fifty years ago; what about environmentalism and going green in today’s music industry? Can we even begin to notice a trend? With the continuing rise of digital sales, the answer is yes. The music industry of today is experiencing going green in terms of events, travel, sales, and artists.
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Hybrid Drives Bridge the Gap Between HDDs and SSDs
Life is all about choices. We can choose a car that’s fast or a car that gets great mileage. We can choose a job we love, or a job that pays well. Rarely do you get the best of both worlds. Well, now you can have it all – at least when it comes to data storage.
Earlier this week, Western Digital announced a new series of Ultra Slim mobile hard drives. So far the company have announced two Ultra Slim models, the WD Blue and the WD Black. Both drives have a 500GB capacity and are just 5mm thick – that’s thinner than one of our slim DVD cases!
Aside from its thin form factor, the WD Blue is just a regular hard drive. However, there’s something exciting about the new Black drive: it is a hybrid drive.
Read more: Hybrid Drives Bridge the Gap Between HDDs and SSDs
Are Compact Discs Making a Comeback?
In a world of streaming Internet radio stations and iTunes downloads, it may seem a bit archaic to be writing about compact discs. And yet the CD is far from dead – in fact, I would argue that CDs are on the cusp of a resurgence. Here is why I think CDs might just make a comeback:
1) Audiophile brands are still in the game
If manufacturers are still making high-end CD players, there must still be a market of people who wish to buy them. While brands like NAD may not be as well known as Sony, Philips, or Toshiba, they are a reputable company in the audiophile world.
For over 40 years, NAD have been making audiophile-grade home theater products. They have recently introduced a new CD player, the C 516BEE, which starts at around $300. That may seem like a lot for a CD player, but it’s only because NAD equipment is built to higher standards than the Sony Discman you used to have. Read more: Are Compact Discs Making a Comeback?
Amazon Takes On iTunes with AutoRip Service
This month, music lovers will be celebrating an important milestone in computing history: the 10th anniversary of the iTunes Store.
It was April 28th, 2003 when Apple flipped the switch on their a la carte music service and offered people a convenient, legal way to buy digital copies of songs and albums. The store was an instant success and sold over a million songs in its first three days.
Over the past decade, the iTunes Store has grown to become a multimedia powerhouse. It now offers movies, TV shows, e-books, and applications in addition to its core business of music – which has sold a mind-boggling 25 billion songs and counting. Now, the iTunes Store faces a new potential threat from none other than Amazon.com.
Read more: Amazon Takes On iTunes with AutoRip Service
Sony PlayStation 4 will Retain Blu-ray Disc Drive
Sony recently made an announcement about their upcoming PlayStation 4 game console at a press event in New York on February 20th, 2013. The new console has some exciting hardware upgrades, but one thing about it hasn’t changed: the PlayStation 4 will be keeping its Blu-ray disc drive.
In an era of ubiquitous broadband Internet and connected devices, this may come as a bit of a surprise. Perhaps you thought that Sony would be the first manufacturer to ditch discs and roll out a streaming-only console? Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but Blu-ray is here to stay.
Read more: Sony PlayStation 4 will Retain Blu-ray Disc Drive
