I’ve got on a CD of the Hilliard Ensemble’s Sacred and Secular Music from Six Centuries (the centuries in question being the eleventh through the sixteenth) and it’s beautiful music that I got for $1.99 at the record store.

Well anyway, [the package] is absolutely dry as dust, from the performances to the fucking title of the album. Yet obviously a lot of care went into curating the CD, and the record can’t have sold more than a thousand copies worldwide. Back in the day these boutique labels like Hyperion were really expensive, but the price in the secondhand market has plummeted.

Where do they get the money for this stuff? It’s common for contemporary composers to find sponsorship and grants, but ultra-niche divisions of record labels?

The CD itself has ruined the physical music industry. No matter how audiophiles want to spin it (no pun intended), 16/44.1 is better than hunan hearing, and anything above 24/48 is a waste of time. Not having to buy your favorite records over again = kind of kills the natural respiration of the (physical) record industry.

I’m off today! Super Bowl Sunday! I wanted the Ravens and Lions to win. Womp womp. I’m rooting for SF mainly because I’m sick of the Chiefs. Travis Kelce was annoyingly omnipresent before hooking up with Taylor. Now it just won’t die – although I am looking forward to the breakup.