DownBeat February 1999 [antikvár]

N THE BEAT FEBRUARY 1999 Jazz's Digital Frontier byjason Koransky Till' Inlcnu'l will chaugi' imisic dislribu-lion cirainatically over iho lu-xl docade. Mypo aside, services of real use are eiiierjiing in cyberspace, oileriiig iasl delivery of music ill a vaiieiy of formáis. A recent conversation wilh Uirry Miller, chief operating officer at ATT's a2b music, forecasted things to come in the digital frontier. iii.iinlaiiiiii.L; ihr riiusir's copyrigltl- "lu jazz. Wold (»1 inniiih is a very impor lain (iriviT and inaiid builder as arlisls t)c-eoMU- nioiT |)(i|)iilar." Miller i-oiitiiuied. ' Arlisis can pul iheir work on the Web to enable the early adopter, ihe lasle-maker fan. lo actually send llieir Iriends an entire record or song, ralhei" lhan send an e-mail or call llu-in lo rave about Ihe music." Several ollu'r digital download tech-nohigies (Li(|uid Audio. Ml'ii) also lout new music clislribuliijn i^ossibililies. Wilh digital download, you can save a song on a computer's hard drive and play il on the computer, or in some cases burn the song lo a CD and play il on a regular CD player, without sacrificing sound quality. Il makes music accessible 24 hours a day in any home or office connected to the Internet, and it's expected to blossom over the next few years. Of course, most of us still will listen to music on a disc five years from now (estimates are between 90 percent and 95 per- il e;il)lc iimdeni, and another njinijic burn iheni lo a disc. Or. download a cunj. plete album, burn it to a CD or DVD, prim oiil the album cover and liner not«fs on a coliir priiiter, and pop it into your own jewel case ffir a few df>llars less lhan the album's retail price. Th«' Inlernet will bring live jazz to every corner of the worid. Cybercasts will deliver live club and festival concerts, with video to your computer; hook the computer up lo your iiome entertainment system, and a live or archived cybercast will look and sound as good, or even better, than a regular television broadcast (see "Riffs," page 14), Ix't's say, for instance, that Sonny Rollins plays a month-long summer European festival tour If the shows are cybercast (with the artist's consent, of course), a jazz fan in Billings, Mont., could catch them all live online. In addition, straightahead jazz radio should make a comeback vrith 24-hour Web radio stations, all sounding better than CDs. "All kinds of new relationships between the artist and the fan are possible wilh ihis lechnology." Miller said. "I-'or example, you will I)«' able lo download and pinchase a song. Perhaps you would be authorized lo redislribiile it and e-mail il li yotn" friends and have- the child' copies—lliose senl lo your iri ii(is—be playable otie lime, maybe Ihr«'«' times. If they want lo hear il a fourlh linn-, they g l a message saying ihey neil to buy it for a buck for a song." cent of Ihe market will be on disc), and brick-and-mortar stores will nol go anywhere. Bul many of the discs will be DVD-Audio or DSD. and CD retail stores probably will transfer business to Web comnu-rce music stores. Wn ried aboul long download limes? I )on'l. Super-fast cable modem services will change the Inlernel from a sknv. plodding lei linology In a medium offering full ino-lion iJ I) vidi'o and iinpeccal)le sound. Yon will be abli- lo lake conlrol of your listening experieiu'e. Ilyou do not wanl an entire album, mayb«' just three songs, just dowii|oa'. for all (if ihe heatlachcs it can stunelimes cause, will in this case bring a i i'naissance to our ears. DB Jnsoii Kofiuishv IS Down Pe.it's Assoi-i.iW Eclitoi Hi wants ti^ tiiimpot 111 .1 virtual ]a:: h.inil H nOWNBEAf