Drag City

Lone voice of dissent / devil's advocacy here, but I find that I actually listen to Drag City releases because I have to make an effort to play them, rather than, oh, I don't know, having something playing while I'm typing this, not knowing the song title or where it's sequenced or how it relates to the rest of the album, etc. I got stoned and just sat and listened to the new Jessica Pratt the other night and it was a great experience. There are probably a few 2015 releases I like better, but I haven't 'communed' with any of them in quite the same way. I agree it's frustrating to not have a copy to listen to on my iPod or in the car, but I have tens of thousands of other things to listen to in that context, and you do, too. Now, don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying "thanks, Drag City, for making us all better, more appreciative listeners!" but I also definitely don't view their decision to not offer downloads with their LPs as some sort of "dick move."

yeah honestly i don't care about samples. i got by for a long while without samples of albums! (unless, of course, it was in the form of a single released to radio!) i respect drag city's interest in doing things their way. i just wish the prose in their newsletters wasn't so fucking arch and condescending.

information rules!! screw the authenticity bullshit, there are more than enough great groups writing/performing classic american songs than can fit on a single compact disc (walks a million miles away from the source of his inspiration)

Lone voice of dissent / devil's advocacy here, but I find that I actually listen to Drag City releases because I have to make an effort to play them, rather than, oh, I don't know, having something playing while I'm typing this, not knowing the song title or where it's sequenced or how it relates to the rest of the album, etc. I got stoned and just sat and listened to the new Jessica Pratt the other night and it was a great experience. There are probably a few 2015 releases I like better, but I haven't 'communed' with any of them in quite the same way. I agree it's frustrating to not have a copy to listen to on my iPod or in the car, but I have tens of thousands of other things to listen to in that context, and you do, too. Now, don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying "thanks, Drag City, for making us all better, more appreciative listeners!" but I also definitely don't view their decision to not offer downloads with their LPs as some sort of "dick move."

It's not like you couldn't have a digital copy of their albums if you really wanted to.

youtube is the only suitable alternative. I like to imagine the artists cringing at the sound quality as I listen to their masterpiece on youtube.

i don't know i feel like there are 10 drag city artists i am very curious about but i just haven't gotten around to hunting down samples to explore them. and the drag city artists i know and love (e.g. bishop, callahan, oldham) i own like everything they put out

I like to imagine the artists cringing at the sound quality as I listen to their masterpiece on youtube.

― It's strange to me too. But we're talking about praxis, man. (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, February 5, 2015 2:48 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea, way to stick it to 'em

purchasing unheard physical media is the only thrill i have left available so thank u drag city for keeping that frontier spirit alive

xp I also set myself on fire to make my listening distracted

as an ignorant dude who shuns Spotify, I say 'right on' Drag City, fuck that shit.

I wonder if this bit at the end of the February newsletter has anything to do with this thread...!

"Yes, sometimes we hate you. Sometimes you hate us. It’s all in the game. We can’t make it without you and we love how we love how you love us – and by "us" we mean, all the artists on Drag City and their various and sundry contortions in the name of entertainment without limits. Thanks always for listening, and a long life to everyone. We’re the greatest -"

they kind of are the greatest. who else kept the vinyl faith back in the day? the dans, corey r, bettina r, gerard c, not many more

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/07/vinyl-records-savior-of-the-music-industry/374291/

Thousands of electronic/ dance labels.

I also definitely don't view their decision to not offer downloads with their LPs as some sort of "dick move."

It's not like you couldn't have a digital copy of their albums if you really wanted to.

I do think it's a dick move, or at least a snooty one. I ride buses for like four hours a day for work. I'd love to listen to some of those albums on those rides. As for the latter sentiment, I don't download stuff illegally, so it makes their policy feel extra frustrating.

They didn't give out free cassette tapes for your walkman along with your records in the 80s.

my mp3 player didn't work so great back then either

a better comparison would be if most labels did give out cassettes for free with records in the 80s

a persons expectations for your product depend on your competition

I'm sure there's some overhead involved, but it must not be too much if Kranky can have a system running for this long.

I do think it's a dick move, or at least a snooty one. I ride buses for like four hours a day for work. I'd love to listen to some of those albums on those rides. As for the latter sentiment, I don't download stuff illegally, so it makes their policy feel extra frustrating.

― Your Ribs are My Ladder, Thursday, February 19, 2015 3:16 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what an entitled thing to say.

it may come from a sense of entitlement, but it's not unreasonable

i think it's unreasonable to expect a label to offer downloads if that's not part of their business model. much more reasonable for a person to buy a copy and make the mp3s themselves if that's what they want.

yeah, I guess I don't really understand how much offering downloads with vinyl would change a label's business model. I haven't noticed a strong difference in price between records that do and do not have download codes.

but it costs something. I'm sure even the little inserts with the download codes are significant.

you can buy The Natural Bridge on amazon, and it comes with 'autorip'. so I guess Drag City does give you downloads now anyway. you just have to buy the record through amazon. That's actually a pretty sensible way to do it.

the trick is to not buy the vinyl

maybe they could sell CDs in the vinyl sleeves

and include an insert for a free McFlurry

some labels do slip a CD into the vinyl

the music industry is so weird these days, i don't blame labels for just about anything

As for the latter sentiment, I don't download stuff illegally, so it makes their policy feel extra frustrating.

I guess your best bet then is to ask for a kind ILX soul to share their digital copy.

I don't expect labels to offer me a download code with my vinyl purchase. I'm happy when they do and a bit disappointed when they don't. Drag City doesn't sell its records cheap. A new LP from DC will likely cost more than one from Sub Pop, Matador, Thrill Jockey, Castle Face, Goner or Jagjaguwar (in some cases, quite a bit more). Albums from the latter labels typically come with download codes. Merge sells records for about the same price as DC and include a download code. It's not that they owe me anything, but rather that they kind of stand alone, both in terms of what they charge and what they offer in return.

It's not like you couldn't have a digital copy of their albums if you really wanted to.

As for the latter sentiment, I don't download stuff illegally, so it makes their policy feel extra frustrating.

You could just rip it yourself, like I've been doing for last 15 years.

but it costs something. I'm sure even the little inserts with the download codes are significant.

as someone who does this - it doesn't cost anything. really.

ripping MP3s from vinyl is so annoying

I suspect it's not about costs as much as it is about discouraging piracy. I don't torrent stuff so I dunno about that end of it, but I've had no luck finding free MP3s of Drag City albums that I've purchased on vinyl, which I would think is at least partially due to them not having a bunch of MP3s from download codes floating around out there.

given how easy it is to rip a CD, they must be actively discouraging privacy as well

ha *piracy

I have no doubt that Drag City is aggro about downloading sites/blogs etc.

it is a slightly cranky approach, sure, but i get the feeling they just think: "hey you want to listen to a record, buy the record. you want to listen to a CD, buy the CD. you want to listen to mp3s, buy the mp3s."

yeah, and then they can just do some 'yeah, we are giving you less than the other guys. but that's because music is worth MORE. what have we become, etc.' or 'we are just simple music people with simple music options. have some artisanal mp3s.' marketing around it

I always throw out the download vouchers (like, if I wanted to download the album I would have done that lol) but feel a bit weird abt it bcz maybe it will affect resale price sometime in the future or just seem like a fun nostalgic part of the package is missing (lulz they had mp3s back then!)

I just give someone else the code if I think they'd like it and I already had downloaded it or whatever.

DON'T TELL THE COPS

worst episode of "dragnet" ever

what an entitled thing to say.

― hammer smashed nagls (mattresslessness), Friday, 20 February 2015 00:51 (3 days ago) Permalink

No, that's fair enough - I genuinely feel entitled to it! Contenderizer spells it out there, feeling a bit more sanguine about it. Many of those other labels listed make their loyal customers feel like they're getting maximum value when they shell out for a record, which is nice, and which is why I buy tons of Castle Face LPs, and vinyl via Bandcamp that I can also listen to on my commute, and don't really buy equally or more expensive Drag City stuff, where I feel like the people running the shop aren't that bothered about that stuff. Which is totally their right, obviously.

from their recent newsletter - beware the house style, but interesting in regards to this thread's recent discussions.

G'OD MORNING
The sun rises an acidic blood-orange over the blanket of snow and frozen poo(p) surrounding our independently-owned-and-operated ivory bunker/fantasy factory/time-and-love-and-music machine. It's the same sun dawning over the rest of the world, one little combat zone at a time, and sometimes we think it's the only thing we truly share with the deeply distressed rest of the planet. But you know what? FUCK the damn planet - it's too late for tears, and we're outta minutes to argue with naysayers and the rest of those who'd sooner end times than admit that they and their industrial patrons have brought on the close to the era of men (apes, please stand by!). We don't care about the government - a corrupt creature elite who so evidently care NOTHING for us, either. We're the chaff that runs their still, dripping a 'shine for them and the others of their selfish kind to imbibe. They are not our people; not only won't they get (or buy) our records, they certainly won't stay the force in their charge in order to benefit the greater good; this is clear. But OUR people - this society of music-lovers that we chose to live among and contribute to so many years ago - are we just another herd of zombified cattle to be shifted by their invisible hand? For ANYONE in music to argue that the days of the record label as we knew it are over, that the dinosaur mega-rollers have passed, leaving only the true and the good to determine their own fate on our One Free Internet, is drollery at the very least; it seems more like utter foolishness in the face of the very real and looming threat of the count-them-on-one-hand (yes, even yer apes' hands!) corporate collective that abso-fucking-lutely controls the One "Free" Internet to expel independent music makers for not signing potential profits into its iron fists. As well, it must be known at this point - well-known and REVILED, people - that these "services" exist ENTIRELY for a profit that will only be had, in the estimation of the "suits" (at least that's what we called them in the 90s; pressed-jeans-and-white-sneakers-and-pastel-polo-shirts-and-thrift-store-blazers by any other name would smell as cheap), by paying only a pittance to the very people whose content draws the moths (listeners, aka unique email addresses) to the flame (corporate marketing departments!)! !(!) So the controlling corporate scum are gone from our industry, eh? It seems they're retreated only as far as the internet's edge - where they merged, bought each other out, and consolidated power. Because that's what good corporations do, and we are delusional fools to expect anything more - like, to live in a world free of their damnable influence. So, when word comes to our tablets and pads from on low that we move our release date from Tuesday to Friday to save and serve the record industry...whose industry, again? Not yours and mine, actually, but the holding of the very few. Once again, the fat cats are sitting on our face - hoping for a quick suck of their udderly-adaptable/hermaphro bits (which is in no way an expression meant to bring shame upon the noble hermaphrodite, please understand!)! Don't let 'em tell you that we're living in a new free world where we can determine our own fate through the manipulation of technologies IN OUR HANDS - because once again, the power source for our tech is in the hands of the very few, for mostly THEIR gain and HARDLY ours. Yet there is still some power left to the individual! Your own unique email address is worth $2-$4 to marketing companies! We have value(s) after all! And if all else fails, remember that even apes are upfront about that whole "not killing ape" thing.

Wake up! It's still tomorrow.

That's so many words.

Really makes me not want to buy anything on the label.

Shooting to catch Sir Richard Bishop this evening. Assuming it's just going to be him and his new guitar, but we'll see!

there's a blanket of frozen poo(p) surrounding their building?