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Spanish to English: Elegy for 'the suits' General field: Other Detailed field: Music
Source text - Spanish Elegy for the ‘Suits’
The Internet, Not the Labels, Hurt the Music Industry
By SAL NUNZIATO DEC. 14, 2014
I WAS the worst kind of music retailer. I got high on my own supply. What a rush it was to anticipate the new release from a favorite artist. If my store was out of stock on an item, there was a good chance it was because my partner and I took the last copies home.
I was — and am — a music junkie.
We were on top of the world for a while, but as soon as business dropped, we blamed the “suits” at the labels. It was their fault for raising CD prices. It was their fault for reissuing the same music over and over. Now, almost 10 years after we closed the shop doors for good, every last note of recorded music is at my fingertips. No more waiting and anticipating. Just get up, pour some coffee and minutes later, every release is on your hard drive.
Quite frankly, I hate it.
As an ex-indie record shop owner, I never thought I’d say this, but I miss those suits at the major labels calling the shots and deciding what was worthy of release.
The suits made hits and created stars because they knew something. The suits had been around the block and back, having experienced, firsthand, everyone from Jimmy Dorsey to Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Buckley to J. Lo. I trusted them because they earned that trust, at least on a purely musical level.
There is a lack of education now, an often insufficient respect for our music history. While artists big and small continue their quest for sales and stardom, teetering among the pros and cons of the Internet, downloads and streaming, little is ever mentioned about the product itself. And product is foisted upon the masses whether we want it or not.
I say this in the wake of the producer/musician Steve Albini’s recent keynote address at the Face the Music conference in Melbourne, Australia, where he discussed, among other things, the current state of the music scene, about which he is both “satisfied and optimistic.” He likes the way things are now.
And I suppose it is wonderful, in a way, that the music of some 16-year-old kids in Chicago, say, can be heard in Malaysia with one mouse click.
But maybe this music shouldn’t be heard. The Internet has enabled anyone with a computer, a kazoo and an untuned guitar to flood the market, no matter how horrible or simply unready the music is. This devalues the great music that is truly worthy of being heard, promoted and sold. And it is much more than just an endless supply of choices. The Internet has become a forum for all, regardless of talent. Anyone can be a writer. Anyone with GarageBand can make a record.
I don’t want thousands of choices. Some choices would suffice, and the suits made that happen.
This really isn’t any different than a restaurant with a five-page menu versus a menu with five items on it. New Yorkers might remember America, on 18th Street near Broadway. You needed a back belt to lift their menu up to eye level. They served every type of cuisine imaginable, most of it mediocre. Yet America was always mobbed because the room was colossal and you could always get a seat. But if you’d taken that menu and opened a smaller restaurant, it wouldn’t have lasted a month.
The ability for anyone anywhere to create and distribute music that has the best chance ever to be heard is a double-edged sword. Citing the documentary about the Detroit band Death, Mr. Albini explained that the band’s “sole album was released in a perfunctory edition” in the mid-’70s “and disappeared until a copy of it was digitized and made public on the Internet.”
The band found a new audience and now has the career it was originally denied. That’s nice. But not every story is like Death’s, and many would argue that a brief return to the big time is not really a career. I know the suits would.
I would never discourage any musician, however green, from making music. But I would strongly discourage most from releasing that music just because they can. It seems like a kick to the faces of the genuinely talented and deserving, all because of a technicality called the Internet. Where are the suits when you need them?
Sal Nunziato is an online record dealer.
Translation - English Elegía para los ejecutivos
Internet, no los sellos, está dañando a la industria discográfica
de Sal Nunziato. 14 de diciembre de 2014
Era el peor vendedor de música. Me drogaba con mi propia sustancia. ¡Qué emoción era la de esperar el material nuevo de un artista! Si a nuestro local le faltaba un disco, seguramente era porque mi socio o yo lo habíamos llevado a casa.
Era, y soy, un adicto a la música.
Estuvimos en la cima del mundo por un tiempo, pero apenas el negocio empezó a decaer, culpamos a los ejecutivos de las discográficas. Era culpa de ellos que habían encarecido los CD. Era su culpa por reeditar el mismo material una y otra vez. Ahora, casi diez años después de haber cerrado para siempre nuestros locales, las últimas notas que se grabaron están a mi alcance. Ya no hay que esperar. Te levantas, te sirves un café, y algunos minutos después, el material está en tu disco rígido.
Honestamente, lo detesto.
Como ex dueño de un local de música indie, nunca pensé que diría esto, pero extraño a los ejecutivos de las grandes discográficas decidiendo qué se justificaba publicar.
Ellos son los que crearon éxitos y estrellas porque sabían de algo. Ellos habían transitado el camino desde Jimmy Dorsey hasta Jimi Hendrix, desde Jeff Buckley a Jennifer Lopez. Confiaba en ellos porque se habían ganado esa confianza, al menos en un aspecto puramente musical.
Hay una gran falta de educación en estos días, un frecuente respeto insuficiente por nuestra historia musical. Mientras que los artistas, grandes o chicos, continúan su cruzada por las ventas y el estrellato, tambaleándose entre las ventajas y desventajas de internet, descargas y streaming, poco se menciona sobre el producto propiamente dicho. Y, queramos o no, este producto se le tira encima a las masas.
Menciono esto tras la reciente presentación del productor Steve Albini en la conferencia Face the Music (De cara a la música) en Melbourne, Australia, en la que charló, entre otras cosas, sobre el estado actual del mundo de la música y sobre la cual se mostró "satisfecho y optimista". A él le gusta cómo están las cosas ahora.
Y supongo que es muy bueno, en cierta forma, que la música de un chico de dieciséis años de Chicago, por poner un ejemplo, pueda escucharse en Malasia con solo un clic del mouse.
Pero tal vez esta música no debería escucharse. Internet le ha permitido a cualquiera con una computadora, un silbato y una guitarra desafinada inundar el mercado, indistintamente de que tan horrible o poco cuidada sea su música. Esto desvaloriza la buena música digna de escucharse, difundirse y venderse. Y no se trata solo de un suministro interminable de opciones, sin importar el talento. Cualquiera puede ser escritor. Cualquiera con una aplicación como GarageBand puede hacer un disco.
No quiero miles de opciones. Algunas son suficientes, y los ejecutivos se encargaban de eso.
Esto no es diferente a un menú con cinco páginas comparado con uno con cinco platos. Los neoyorquinos recordarán al restaurante America en la calle 18 cerca de Broadway. Se necesitaba una faja lumbar para levantar la carta a la altura de la vista. Servían cualquier tipo de comida imaginable, la mayoría bastante mediocre. Aun así, el restaurante se llenaba porque el salón era enorme y siempre se podía conseguir una mesa. Y si tomabas el mismo menú y abrías un restaurante más chico, no duraba ni un mes.
La posibilidad de que cualquier persona en cualquier lugar pueda crear y distribuir música, ahora que tiene más chances de ser escuchada, es un arma de doble filo. Haciendo referencia al documental de la banda de Detroit, Death, el señor Albini explicaba que "el único disco de la banda se publicó en una edición apresurada" a mediados de los setenta y "había desaparecido hasta que una copia se digitalizó y se publicó en internet".
La banda encontró un público nuevo y tiene ahora una carrera musical que en ese entonces se le había negado. Eso es muy lindo. Pero no todas las historias son como la de Death, y muchos dirán que un breve regreso a la fama no es realmente una carrera. Al menos sé que los ejecutivos lo dirían.
Nunca desalentaría a ningún músico, sin importar lo inexperto que sea, a hacer música. Pero sí desanimaría enormemente a que la publiquen simplemente porque pueden hacerlo. Es una ofensa a aquellos que son realmente talentosos y merecedores, simplemente por un tecnicismo llamado internet. ¿Dónde están los ejecutivos cuando se los necesita?
Sal Nunziato es un vendedor online de discos.
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Bachelor's degree - University of Lanús (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Experience
Years of experience: 17. Registered at ProZ.com: Mar 2014.
I am a professional translator with a degree in Technical Translation from the Universidad Nacional de Lanús (Buenos Aires, Argentina). With over 10 years of experience, I specialize in healthcare, legal, IT, and finance, providing accurate and culturally appropriate translations that help clients communicate effectively with Spanish-speaking audiences.
In addition, my background in music production and education has given me a solid foundation in specialized terminology within this field.
I work confidently with leading CAT tools such as SDL Trados Studio, memoQ, and Wordfast, as well as other project management and quality assurance tools.
Clients and colleagues value my commitment to delivering high-quality work on time and my dedication to maintaining clear, professional communication throughout every project.
Keywords: English, Spanish, computers, technology, software, hardware, networks, IT, healthcare, health care. See more.English, Spanish, computers, technology, software, hardware, networks, IT, healthcare, health care, medicine, manuals, instructions, e-learning. See less.
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