Is this the end of physical media?

> The ramifications of the last chain music store’s closure

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

Wie HMV bankrupt, there is no
place to go to buy a large variety
of CDs and films and shows on DVD
and Blu-ray. It was already hard to get a
CD, as a lot of people are getting music
on iTunes and more content is available
digitally than in physical media. Despite
music becoming available only in digital
form, some people still get music in
various formats. CDs might eventually
be the same as records are today.

In the past, a lot of people listened
to music by getting CDs and having
a CD collection. However, when the
iTunes Store was opened, a lot of people
began buying music in the store to use
on their mp3 players and CDs started
to disappear. I like both CD and digital,
because the digital music listening
experience is starting to get simpler.
When you listen to a song on iTunes,
you click the album and song that you'd
like to listen to, and the song begins
immediately. Compared to listening to
an album ina CD player, you open the
case of the CD, you put the CD in the
CD player, you wait for the CD to load
and then, finally, the album begins.

Listening to a CD is like preparing
for a big event, but it has its positives.
The quality of a song in digital may not
sound as great from laptop speakers,
though if you have great speakers or

headphones, you will hear the song the
way the musician wants you to hear
it, depending on how it was mastered.
The disadvantage of digital is that
you do not get to see the beautiful
artwork that is inside the case of the
CD and the package. However, in some
albums, they include a digital version
of the booklet of the album so that
you can learn more about the album.
Some people think that records
are better than digital because they
have a better sound. When I listened to
Bob Marley’s best-of album Legend on
record, it sounded great, and it seemed
louder than in digital. Records are not
obsolete as you can still get records ina
record store, and there is even a National

 

Record Store Day. The same thing might
happen with CDs now. It might have to
be renamed National Record and CD
Store Day, if vintage CD stores ever open
up, or if record stores start widening
their stocks to include more of them.

In the past few weeks, I tried to get
the soundtrack of La La Land on CD
in HMV and it was sold out. Instead, I
had to get the soundtrack of the film
from Amazon and it cost more than
at HMV, and since HMV is closing I'll
have to buy from Amazon. Surprisingly,
I received it in two days, even though
that I do not have Amazon Prime.

In the case of DVD and Blu-ray,
you can still get them in many stores,
including Best Buy. This is despite the

Governments should be
challenged regularly

> Higher-ups don’t always have our best interests at heart

Cazzy Lewchuk
Opinions Editor

 

Frere: in every nation, people
complain about their governments.
No matter how popular the government
is, there will still be a large percentage
of the population who disagrees with
their actions and platforms. It’s because
all governments break promises, gain
bias towards special interests, and do not
excel at the jobs they are appointed to do.

Governments at all levels fail
to meet their goals, and they break
their promises all the time. Trudeau’s
government gained victory through
promises of better transparency and
of trust. Many were upset with the
recent announcement that electoral
reform would not be on the agenda,
despite it being a core promise of the
election campaign. Trudeau’s betrayal
came only a couple months after
greenlighting the Kinder Morgan and
Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines,
further disappointing his voters.

While I felt just as lied to as
many others at the decisions, it
wasn't surprising. You simply can’t
please everyone in a multi-party
nation, and you will absolutely “sell
out” to special interest groups and
powerful figures in the economy.

Governments have to make tough
decisions, and unfortunately those
decisions can harm and anger a large
amount of the population. Trudeau’s
government is about helping the middle
class, and that comes at the expense of
the working class due to his government
making deals with the upper class in
the hopes of fueling the middle.

Promises turn into compromises,
which in turn become broken
promises. This happens in every
party at every level. Politics and
power change operations, some are
just less corrupt than others.

The last line in The Who's classic
anthem “Won't Get Fooled Again”
states “Meet the new boss... Same
as the old boss.” It rings true for
governments all around the world; just
because a different person or party
has taken power doesn’t mean they
won't fall to the same mistakes.

I believe genuine social change
and equality occurs when we question
politics, as well as when we reduce
partisan values. So much of politics
involves electing a first-past-the-post
government for a few years, then
watching an opposing government
undo their actions a few years later.
The majority of Canadians support a
system that limits power for a single
party and instead encourages opposing

 

parties to work together to help all
citizens. Sadly, Canada doesn’t have a
Bernie Sanders figure to lead us, nor do
we have an alternative to first-past-the-
post coming our way anytime soon.

I don’t think that full suspicion
and distrust of every single government
official is the right way to go. Taking
on the establishment and attacking

Image via www.marketingmag.ca

fact that a lot of people are watching
films and shows on streaming services
like Netflix, Crave TV, and Amazon
Prime Video. The disadvantage of
streaming services is that they do not
have special features allowing you to
go beyond the film, so a lot of content
is lost. If you wanted to get a film
from The Criterion Collection, which
would contain a lot of extra content,
you can still get them in video stores
like Vancouver’s Videomatica, or at
The Criterion Collection’s website,
especially during their flash sales.
While a lot of people are listening
and watching content digitally, physical
media will still be available to preserve
content for future generations.

Image via macleans.ca

the merit of the previous government

was a major influence in Trump’s

campaign and ultimate victory. It’s

not about hating the government; it’s

about critically analyzing, debating, and

questioning the government’s decisions.
We need to hold politicians to a

high standard if they are going to be

the ones representing our community.