Thankfully, Rufus Wainwright's new album is brilliant. Otherwise, a certain album playback would've been preeeetty awkward. Photograph: Mark Mainz/Getty
Internet piracy! Yes, it's bad news for the record industry; it's also bad news for those who write about it, because it encourages the dreaded "album playback".
This is when someone representing a major record label invites you to a oh-so-very exclusive gathering to hear the new Rufus Wainwright record, for instance. To encourage you, they'll stage it somewhere mildly exciting, where the sound isn't too dire - like George Martin's AIR Studios - and they'll lay on food (a nice bit of chicken satay) and drinks.
But then you have to listen to the thing. I don't know about you, but I very rarely sit in a room full of strangers, nodding my head sagely at what I reckon to be the appropriate moments, when I want to listen to a new piece of music. You might want to nod off or write a letter to your maiden aunt or something. Worst of all, though, is when the "talent" actually turns up.
Famously, Robbie Williams once invited half-a-dozen frontline critics to hear his new album and berated them for writing unkind words about him previously. I once had the uncomfortable experience of walking out of a playback for a new Mariah Carey album, hosted by producer LA Reid. This meant marching straight past him as he sat on a stage, midway through his droning on between tracks about its brilliance.
Mind you, if the artist doesn't show, it's an even more demeaning experience. I don't think anyone who sat through the one chance to hear the latest Prince album before its release, in a West End club in the middle of the day, relished the occasion.
The good news as far as Rufus is concerned is that the new album probably is - I say this on the basis on that one listen - properly brilliant. Plus, he had the good grace to look extremely sheepish when he walked into the room as the last chord faded.
The fear of piracy is understandable. Encrypted websites - one alternative - rarely work smoothly. Better, surely, to ask journalists 'round to the label on an individual basis to hear new material (the forthcoming Arctic Monkeys: precisely what you'd want from them). Or, if it's really pressing, a PR can always turn up in person to play you something (Bjork's latest and Dizzee Rascal's: pop belters, I'm saying). Or trust people just a little bit and put a CD in the post. Or simply stick the tracks on MySpace. That last way, you won't even have to suffer journalists sounding smug about what they've heard and others haven't.
Famously, Robbie Williams once invited half-a-dozen front-line critics to hear his new album, and berated them for writing unkind words about him previously. I once had the uncomfortable experience of walking out of a playback for a new Mariah Carey album, hosted by producer LA Reid. This meant marching straight past him as he sat on a stage, mid-way through his droning on between tracks about its brilliance. Mind you, if the artist doesn't show - has no intention of doing so - it's an even more demeaning experience. I don't think anyone who sat through their one chance to hear the latest Prince album before its release, in a West End club, only in the middle of the day, relished the experience. The good news as far as Rufus is concerned is that the new album probably IS - I say this on the basis on that one listen - properly brilliant. Plus he had the good grace to look extremely sheepish when he walked into the room as the last chord faded. The fear of piracy is understandable. Encrypted web-sites - one alternative - rarely work smoothly. Better, surely, to ask journalists round to the label on an individual basis to hear new material (the forthcoming Arctic Monkeys: precisely what you'd want from them). Or if it's really pressing, a pr can always turn up in person to play you something (Bjork's latest and Dizzee Rascal's: pop belters, I'm saying). Or trust people just a little bit and put a CD in the post or simply stick the tracks on MySpace. That last way, you won't even have to suffer journalists sounding smug about what they've heard and others haven't.
