Pink Floyd's Mason See End Of Audio 'Dark Period'

(Prog) Nick Mason is glad that there's been a resurgence of interest in audio quality after a "dark period" of earbud listening. And the Pink Floyd drummer has argued that, while many bands have only recently become comfortable with releasing development-stage material, the practice has its roots in jazz music from years ago.

He was speaking during a launch event for mammoth Pink Floyd box set The Early Years 1965-1972, which includes almost everything the band had available in their archive.

Mason told YouTube: "This is a sea-change that a lot of bands have been through. It was unthinkable, 30 years ago, that we'd release anything except our final ultimate version.

"Everyone was worried about bootlegs and the fact that people would get to hear it in the wrong form, or too early. Now there's a sense that, if people are interested in how we develop something, that's fine."

He cites jazz icon Charlie Parker's albums as examples of how it's been done before: "They actually put out every take. You get a track and they give you the lot, so you can hear how they progressed and got to where they ended up."

Mason admitted that one of the few blocking points was sound quality - but believes it's a standard worth retaining. "We've been through a dark period of everyone listening to everything on earbuds and MP3 players," he says. "Now we're coming out the other side." Read more here.

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