Does anyone else bemoan the loss of pdf liner notes when they download hi-res albums? I have to want an album pretty bad before I’ll purchase one that doesn’t include them. It’s such an easy thing for a record company to include: just attach a pdf.
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I spent my life pouring over the smallest details on liner notes and album covers. Every piece of information was consumed and stored away.
Then came CDs (oh cassettes before that) and the album art as such disappeared but the booklet was always a source of information.
Now I am into downloads and very rarely take advantage of the pdf if there is no one.
A bygone age now I use the web - wiki, discogs, rateyourmusic or Bandcamp if I want to find who is playing bass on an album or who was the engineer and where was the recording studio.
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Perhaps the record companies think everyone is of the same mind as you, so they don’t bother with them. Often the liner notes add something special to the album, though. I bought Kat Edmonson’s CD The Big Picture, for example, and the photographs inside gave some insight into some of the songs’ lyrics. Her subsequent downloads don’t include them.
They’re especially critical with classical music, I think. The artist often provides background information on the composer or they include lyrics.
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I buy a lot of downloads of new classical releases and they usually do include a digital booklet.
And if you buy from Presto, then you can access the download (or the CD) in their app and easily access the booklet from your phone.
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If they include a booklet though. The 2023 grammy winner for Best Chamber Music is the Attacca Quartet for Shaw Evergreen. And Presto doesn’t include a digital booklet for it.
I’ve never noticed this before, but there’s a grammy award for best album notes.
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Someone eventually gets this done and done right and wins. Until then…
I see you are right about this album and it’s probably because it was all very low budget. But anyway I listened to the samples on Presto and I am going to have to buy the album now! Thank you for the introduction.
You’re referring to Kat Edmonson? Yes, I really like her voice, and she’s a great songwriter! She tours a lot but, sadly, hasn’t come to Canada yet, as far as I know.
No. Caroline Shaw and Attaca Quartet - Evergreen, as you mentioned 
Oh, of course.
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Liner notes for older jazz releases are often historically significant and carefully reprinted (sometimes with modern notes appended) when albums are re-released.
The lack of them with many non-physical media isn’t the top reason I have no desire to move from physical, but it’s not irrelevant either.
Mark
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