The Typo Heard 'Round The World
As we were all taught in kindergarten, it's good to share. Through the convenience of the internet, sharing is at an all time high nowadays. Especially music, thanks to that delightful file-type mp3. As you may have guessed, I love sharing music in this fashion. Though I sometimes feel a twinge of guilt as I click "download," I usually feel better knowing that I am an avid concert goer, and purchase CDs and other merchandise at these shows. The artist gets money (and arguably, more money than they would if I bought their CD at a retail store) for their hard work and talent, and I feel that I've paid my dues so to speak. Plus, if I really enjoy the album/artists, I will buy the music even if I can download it for free. There's something to be said for the tangibility of a CD, having the album art, etc.
There's also the fact that mp3 blogs and music sharing are an amazing way for artists to get their work out there. The best example of this would be the latest indie darlings, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who were an overnight sensation in part because of mp3 blogs. They weren't even signed to a record label, and yet ran out of copies of their self-produced CD because everyone wanted a copy, immediately. I also read an interview with Feist on Tofu Hut, and she noted that people used downloaded copies of her album to become familiar with the music before the concert, and would turn them in for the real thing at the show. She was surprised by people singing along to her music in The States; she hadn't realized she was popular here--but she was, and mostly because of the internet.
But, I must say that there are funny quirks about music sharing. Just yesterday, I realized that I was missing a track off of Pixies Doolittle, and hadn't noticed up until now. Whoever I downloaded it from didn't have it, so neither did I.
More amusing, though, are mislabelings of music that can pervade the music sharing community. One day, I noticed that one of the bonus tracks from Beck's album Guero was labeled as "Crap Hands." Since the song was singing about clapping your hands, I decided to investigate. As I had suspected, the correct title was indeed "Clap Hands," as indicated by a tracklist on Amazon.com. What was hilarious, though, is that apparently, a lot of people had been listening to "Crap Hands" by Beck. A check of last.fm for the track shows that 379 people listened to this non-existent track. That doesn't even account for people who caught the typo and fixed it.
So everyone, crap your hands!
There's also the fact that mp3 blogs and music sharing are an amazing way for artists to get their work out there. The best example of this would be the latest indie darlings, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, who were an overnight sensation in part because of mp3 blogs. They weren't even signed to a record label, and yet ran out of copies of their self-produced CD because everyone wanted a copy, immediately. I also read an interview with Feist on Tofu Hut, and she noted that people used downloaded copies of her album to become familiar with the music before the concert, and would turn them in for the real thing at the show. She was surprised by people singing along to her music in The States; she hadn't realized she was popular here--but she was, and mostly because of the internet.
But, I must say that there are funny quirks about music sharing. Just yesterday, I realized that I was missing a track off of Pixies Doolittle, and hadn't noticed up until now. Whoever I downloaded it from didn't have it, so neither did I.
More amusing, though, are mislabelings of music that can pervade the music sharing community. One day, I noticed that one of the bonus tracks from Beck's album Guero was labeled as "Crap Hands." Since the song was singing about clapping your hands, I decided to investigate. As I had suspected, the correct title was indeed "Clap Hands," as indicated by a tracklist on Amazon.com. What was hilarious, though, is that apparently, a lot of people had been listening to "Crap Hands" by Beck. A check of last.fm for the track shows that 379 people listened to this non-existent track. That doesn't even account for people who caught the typo and fixed it.
So everyone, crap your hands!
posted by Amy at 2:19 PM
2 Comments:
Loveliest Amy,
As funny as the image of "crap hands" is(unless you're coprophobic, in which case you'd be horrified), what's doubly funny is that the title isn't a mistake. Clap Hands was a bonus track intended for the Japanese market that eventually made its way to pressings of Guero for the US. As any self-respecting comedian knows, the stereotype that East Asian folks can't pronounce the letter "l" is a true one. And so in order to avoid undue confusion in the Japanese market, Western companies often transliterate English product titles to better suit the linquistic abilities of our friends in the Orient. "Crap Hands" is understood to mean the same thing that "Clap Hands" does, and we get to have a laugh at other people's expense. Everyone wins!
Rick it up,
Matthew
And yet again, I am one-uped by The Definitive Source. I am unworthy.
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