IAlthough it’s far from his best album, or even the best album of the 1990s, Hours… is David Bowie’s most important album of the decade. However, it wasn’t the music’s fault, but the way it was released. The first album by an artist on the Major His label appeared as a download before it was physically released.
Rolling Stone, writing about the album in August 1999 ahead of its September release, called The Hours a “cyber coup.” This is a continuation of Bowie’s enthusiasm for releasing music online, which began with his 1996 single ‘Telling Lies’. He was also very active. He embraced webcasting and in 1998 he founded his own internet service provider with BowieNet. “I couldn’t be happier with the opportunity to bring the music industry closer to making digital downloads the norm rather than the exception,” he says. How did Bowie explain the release of “Hours…” at the time? “We all know that broadband opportunities are still not available to the overwhelming majority of people, so we hope that the success of this experiment will be measured in hundreds of downloads, not thousands. But just as color television broadcasts and film content on home videotape were necessary first steps to expand the industry’s consumer use, I believe this small step will help my own and others’ We hope this will lead to a huge leap forward for people and ultimately give consumers more choice and easier choice, allowing them to access the music they enjoy.”
The strangeness of cyberspace… David Bowie’s artwork for The Hours…
In early 1998, Virgin Records/EMI made Massive Attack’s Mezzanine available for streaming in its entirety online, with track-by-track previews available over several weeks, in conjunction with its physical release. At the time, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) warned against this, suggesting that streaming experiments could increase the likelihood of albums being pirated and burned onto CDs by tech-savvy individuals. This did not stop other major labels and their label acts from experimenting from time to time. Def Leppard and Red Hot Chili Peppers made their latest albums, Euphoria and Californication, respectively, available for streaming in full on June 4, 1999, four days before the records hit stores. Bob Merlis of the Chili Peppers’ label, Warner Bros., said, “Getting airplay is getting airplay. You just have to define the atmosphere.” “Since I can’t download it, I thought this was a good idea.”
But Bowie’s album release was designed to be a huge step forward. In 1999 he Interview by Jeremy Paxman He appeared on BBC Newsnight to talk about his career, art and what gives him the most energy – the internet. This 16-minute interview is still published on the BBC website, especially since Bowie’s death in January 2016, as evidence of his remarkable foresight regarding the impact of the internet on art, politics and society. Shared frequently. “I don’t think we’ve even seen the tip of the iceberg,” he told the weary and cynical Paxman. “I think the possibilities that the Internet brings to society are unimaginable, for better or worse. I think we are actually on the cusp of something both exhilarating and frightening.” Paxman says in his own words. suggested that it was just a “tool” that inspired Bowie to take action. “No, it’s not,” he said. “No, it’s an extraterrestrial!”
He went on to say that the Internet…
Source: www.theguardian.com
