Music

'CD is a dead format,' says Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist

by Tyler Munro

“I think it’s time to accept and acknowledge that the CD is a dead format,” says Greg Puciato, the mic-wielding frontman for Jersey’s Dillinger Escape Plan. Known for his outspokenness—just ask Jared Leto—Puciato has written a lengthy response to a fan question on his website. Posted late Sunday night, Puciato was responding to the following question posted on Facebook,

Hi Greg, I’m a business student in Belfast and for my ethics module I’m writing a paper on online file sharing and it’s [sic] effect on the music industry. I was wondering what your views on the subject are, how it’s affected you and if you’ve done anything to try and counter the situation or lessen its effect on Dillinger. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, and I can’t wait to see you here this summer! Thanks.

Greg’s response is as candid as it is well thought out, as Puciato starts by referring to CDs as collectors items, citing increasing hard drive capacities as the counter-point to the sound quality argument. He writes, “The CD is not the product, it’s a means to distribute the product, and that means, like I was saying before, needs to be accepted as being outdated, and treated as a collector’s item.”

He later goes on to say that the industry needs to change and that the intellectual property laws and general record industry infrastructure are outdated. He then puts the onus on bands themselves, “[B]ands need to do good shit! Be a real band, give a shit about what you are doing, have high standards and quality control and have pride in releasing good material in quality formats.”

The commoditization of music and concerns surrounding file sharing are obviously issues Puciato is passionate about, and his response is one worth reading in full, especially given the timing. Posted less than a week before Record Store Day, it’s yet another damning sign of the times. Perhaps not as visually bleak as the photos of closed down record stores we reported on yesterday, but intriguing nonetheless.

On a lighter note, Dillinger Escape Plan has also released a new video for “Gold Teeth on a Bum,” off last year’s Option Paralysis. The twist is that it’s not the album version, but rather a slower take on the song with heavier backing vocals and a few different riffs.