I remember a time when it felt absolutely magical to have my favorite song come on the radio. I'd turn the volume up and jam out. I also remember rushing home from school to watch Carson Daly on MTV's TRL to see if the band I loved finally broke into the top 5. It's just so different today, when I have immediate access to all those things and more whenever I'd like. I don't think I appreciate music or musicians like I used to because it's all so instantaneously accessible. What about you all? Has instant access affected the way that you experience music and performers?
gofar99 Messages: 1949 Registered: May 2010 Location: Southern Arizona
Illuminati (5th Degree)
Hi, I suppose it might...if I did that. My "instant" access is putting a LP on the turntable. Even the CDs I have they require some effort. The closest I have to I.A. is with my phone and tablet with the wav files I have on them (I don't use any compressed files and wavs work on everything).
Rusty Messages: 1188 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Playing records seems to give a sense of care and appreciation listening to music. I understand the instant gratification of streaming can take the anticipation all out of the experience of personal music experience. On the other hand, the ability to search and sample potential music digitally is so gratifying as well. Used to be a crap shoot back when, when you wanted to buy a record album based on one song only. The one hit wonder possibility.
Yep, it was the same way with CDs, Rusty. Spending my allowance at Tower Records on a new release was a big gamble. Maybe it was the stakes that made it seem so worthwhile. That's something for me to ponder.
Gofar99, even if you don't have the digital file on hand, you can stream just about any song that you'd like to hear. YouTube has a ton of musical content.
With the way I find music, I wouldn't use the term instant access. New music on the radio that I liked gave me a thrill. New music that YouTube sends me that I like, is the same kind of thrill.
I remember discovering Tom Waits on the radio, and then years later discovering Blackberry Smoke on YouTube. Whatever the delivery method, good music is good music.
I loved browsing Tower and used record stores, especially when I went on study breaks (or procrastinated) in college. I guess YouTube and Spotify and other apps are the new equivalents? It's way easier getting into rabbit holes on them.
Everything seems to have become souless and impersonal, with music. Corporate needs have taken over and turned it into an irony. Music is the opposite of the machine that sells it.
Rusty Messages: 1188 Registered: May 2018 Location: Kansas City Missouri
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
Quote:
Re: The dullness of instant access Sat, 22 April 2023 11:50
Concorde
Everything seems to have become souless and impersonal, with music. Corporate needs have taken over and turned it into an irony. Music is the opposite of the machine that sells it.
Great point Concorde. Here's a good tube giving a reasoned explanation for this tendency with music today.
A big issue with streaming services like Spotify and Pandora is that they're based on algorithms. This makes it more difficult to discover unique music and adds to the muted feeling. My advice is to go local if you have a music scene in your area. You'll find that listening to live music is far more engaging. A bonus is that the artists are unlikely to be trying to make it big, so you'll have a more authentic experience as well.
I can relate to that. Having instant access removes the reward of patience because you can listen to anything. When it's like that, you can end up indecisive about what you want to hear instead of appreciating the current one playing. Having easy and accessible choices isn't always great.
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