Dear IDM Community

First up, don't get me wrong. I like IDM quite a bit, especially Glitchcore and Drill & Bass. Not as much as I like post-punk, or drinking beer and playing pool, but as a musical genre it's definitely something I say "yes" to. The thing is, even though I think it's good, I own hardly any albums by the artists I like. I think I own as many Soft Cell albums than I do IDM releases, and I'm sure as fuck not *that* much of a fan of Soft Cell. Why?

I'll tell you why. While I can get lots of releases either inexpensively from music stores or buy records for a couple of dollars at a market, to obtain IDM releases I have to outlay vast amounts of cash at specialist record shops. I don't mind looking through shops, many a day I've spent happily devoted to the pursuit of CD's and records, but I do care about spending shitloads of my hard-earned pay packet on one release when I could be getting more of other stuff.

It's not that I'm adverse to spending big on one thing - The other week I got a Jaques Dutronc compilation for the rather princely sum of $50. But while I don't mind spending what is, to me, a fat wad of my pay on some remastered works by 60's pop crooner, I've got a serious problem paying thirty dollars and upwards for an album that's made, for the most part, on a fucking computer. What expensive instruments, pricey studio mixing/mastering time, and bulky equipment is present to account for the cost? How come I can buy brand new Neu! reissues for $20, when I would have to spend $15 on a fucking two-track single by Richard 'I left my mp3 player on a train so I'll release my new album even when it's not finished so I don't miss out on any of the profits even though I'm already a rich motherfucker' James. Paying IDM prices for the albums you want makes being a fucking Fall completionist look cheap by comparison. In short. You're all a bunch of fucking rich elitist snobs.