I haven’t been paying much attention to all of the Blu-ray hoopla. I haven’t really thought about it much at all because, it hasn’t become apparent, to me, how I would benefit as a consumer.
In the last couple of days, I’ve been hearing about how Neil Young is releasing some “archive” stuff on the Blu-ray format. I didn’t really think much about it because, I guess in my mind, I was thinking that it was just another catalog release. Nothing against Neil, but I don’t feel the need to get a new copy of “Harvest”. But, I had it wrong. Way back (’80s), I read an interview where Young spoke about an ambitious, archive project that was going to go way beyond the boxed set idea.
Anyway, last night I looked at this article that has a video demonstration, as well.
Young said he tried to do the project on DVD, but users couldn’t watch the high-resolution video and listen to the music at the same time. With Java and Blu-ray, the content can be updated and offer the best viewing and listening experience, as well as great navigation and design. “Storage is the only limit,” Young said, and recommended the Sony’s PlayStation 3 as the best way to view his project.
Users will be able to download any archival materials, which are automatically assigned to their place in a chronological time line, Young said.
In a meeting with a few press members following the JavaOne keynote, Young talked about the Archive project, which goes back to the late 1980s. The first stage, he said, was collecting the materials.
“I am kind of a pack rat,” he said, adding that over the years he’s accumulated a lot of unreleased material. “I only give the record company what I want people to hear at the time. So I have a lot of unreleased material. Putting it all together tells a much different story than just what has been produced (for public consumption).”
When I watched the video, I got it-I saw the Blu-ray light. I see how this could work. It isn’t just about being able to scroll through pictures and listen to music at the same time, It’s about being able to listen to very high quality sound while manipulating high quality visual content at the same time.
I get it now. I love that idea. I am a big fan of quality sound. I like to sit on a nice couch and have a listening experience. I have no interest in ear buds or listening to compressed files while driving. I like to listen to well recorded, well performed music in a comfortable environment.
Used to be, I would sit there listening and gaze at the album cover art, and read the liner notes, while listening. I miss that. I miss the connection between music and art. And, I miss the connection between music and information. I never got that experience with CDs. It’s not the same.
But, I could definitely envision myself, on a mythical couch somewhere, gazing at a huge screen and listening to music through some high quality studio monitors. That would be an experience I would dig.
Right now, there is no way I’m going to drop four bills on a PlayStation 3 and no way that a huge screen is going to fit in the Winnebago. I would probably go through the whole Blue-ray/Neil experience at least once but, unless it was just tremendous, I wouldn’t be willing to shell out whatever this boat load of content will cost.
Neil Young has a large body of work, this project truly is an archive. I can see other possibilities along these lines. For instance, the four disc Riverside Jazz set that I’ve listened to a ton over the last few years; it would be great to sit on the couch and scroll through pictures and info while listening to that.
The wild card with this format is that it can be updated. If you buy the package, you can add content to it later. Why wouldn’t a label be interested in promoting a number of acts with a “sampler” release in this format? The consumer on the couch could look and say; “I like these three bands but, not these seven-notify me when these three have new stuff that I can download.”
In theory, I can sit here and come up with a lot of ways that the industry could capitalize on the Blu-ray format. All of them would require a massive amount of logistical footwork. And, the whole industry seems bent on licensing delay.
Sony should be all over this. They have the hardware interest. They have the catalog. I’m pretty sure they have an art department and video content. Sony should step in right now and ice the market. Force the format change with a dedicated, inexpensive player and a slew of releases that make use of the format.
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