Repeatedly heard a track I like thanks to an unlikely source, and that led to some thoughts. The track is the Bambino Casino remix of The Time is Now by Moloko, and I keep hearing it at work, where we have Pandora radio on all the computers. I've got one set to the Little Dragon station, and this track keeps coming up.
Streaming, and how it's changed my music consumption, is something I've been thinking about recently, as I signed up for the paid version of Spotify and immediately realised I'd probably never buy another CD. Because more than one thing has changed -- the technology has changed, but so have my own habits. The days where I'd listen to one album repeatedly are done, as far as I can tell. Now I'm constantly listening to new things and moving on to more new things. Partly because of technology, and hearing new things being so easy to do. Partly also due to technology and the incredible amounts of information giving me ideas about what to listen to. And also because there is so much new music out there too (which, I think, is also due to technology). I think there's a negative to this approach in that it reduces the likelihood of me finding a new favourite album, for instance -- I just don't spend enough time with anything. I also have this distracted feeling a lot of the time, which I think is due to this lack of focus -- or vice versa. That has less to do with streaming and more to do with the internet and screen-time in general, but still.
I also wonder what the point of music is for me now? It provides a nice soundtrack to various tasks, and I also think I use it to preview shows I want to go to. But it used to be I'd go and see acts live because I liked their music... now I think I go and see acts I like for the experience of going, but I'm not sure how meaningful that is? Maybe it doesn't really matter. I went to see Nick Cave despite not being a huge Nick Cave fan but I still really enjoyed it. Supposedly we're in the age of experiences taking precedent over ownership, but is that true, or are we actually in the age of needing to do things so we can tell others what we did? And show them via photos and videos? There's probably a mix of reasons going on, but I don't think there's any denying the role social media, and the internet in general, is playing in changing my, and our, habits when it comes to music.
But on the plus side are discoveries like this track, which I don't think I'd ever have heard were it not for the Pandora algorithm! So algorithms, they're not all bad ya know. Actually, I just realised this track is on the Moloko Back to Mine album... so in the old days I have picked that album up used somewhere and heard this ... As for the track, I loved the slowed down tempo, which I think enhances the lyrics. I love the original track, but this is a great remix.
Streaming, and how it's changed my music consumption, is something I've been thinking about recently, as I signed up for the paid version of Spotify and immediately realised I'd probably never buy another CD. Because more than one thing has changed -- the technology has changed, but so have my own habits. The days where I'd listen to one album repeatedly are done, as far as I can tell. Now I'm constantly listening to new things and moving on to more new things. Partly because of technology, and hearing new things being so easy to do. Partly also due to technology and the incredible amounts of information giving me ideas about what to listen to. And also because there is so much new music out there too (which, I think, is also due to technology). I think there's a negative to this approach in that it reduces the likelihood of me finding a new favourite album, for instance -- I just don't spend enough time with anything. I also have this distracted feeling a lot of the time, which I think is due to this lack of focus -- or vice versa. That has less to do with streaming and more to do with the internet and screen-time in general, but still.
I also wonder what the point of music is for me now? It provides a nice soundtrack to various tasks, and I also think I use it to preview shows I want to go to. But it used to be I'd go and see acts live because I liked their music... now I think I go and see acts I like for the experience of going, but I'm not sure how meaningful that is? Maybe it doesn't really matter. I went to see Nick Cave despite not being a huge Nick Cave fan but I still really enjoyed it. Supposedly we're in the age of experiences taking precedent over ownership, but is that true, or are we actually in the age of needing to do things so we can tell others what we did? And show them via photos and videos? There's probably a mix of reasons going on, but I don't think there's any denying the role social media, and the internet in general, is playing in changing my, and our, habits when it comes to music.
But on the plus side are discoveries like this track, which I don't think I'd ever have heard were it not for the Pandora algorithm! So algorithms, they're not all bad ya know. Actually, I just realised this track is on the Moloko Back to Mine album... so in the old days I have picked that album up used somewhere and heard this ... As for the track, I loved the slowed down tempo, which I think enhances the lyrics. I love the original track, but this is a great remix.
