Uffffff as a professional artist and blossoming musician, Spotify is my most guilty pleasure in my entire life because of what it does to the musicians, esp those who aren’t SuperGiants. Okay let’s get real, it’s my most guilty obsession because I (apparently) don’t consume music the way many people do. I MF devour it on my own terms. Being a child of the original Mixtape Era, I have always cherry picked. Even on my parents’ vinyl. Obsessive need to choreograph and rehearse got me really deft at placing the needle precisely with enough time to run to the middle of the living room floor and reset before my song came on.
With cassette tapes I was the queen of knowing by the slight variant in the brown tone of the tape and the feel of time’s passage for rewinding my dance song. Or whichever ballad was currently ripping my teenybopper heart out this month. (After recording it from the radio, preferably without the DJ blathering over it.) I appreciate The Album story/flow and the artwork. But I’m super picky about my sounds and when I find what I love I want it on repeat like my circulating life’s blood. Hence my precious mixtapes.
When I gained the ability to mix CDs a new obsession was birthed. Creating “soundtracks” for my own novels so even when I wasn’t actively writing or editing, the story vibe would stay working in my background like a lovely virus. Later I started doing this for my favorite novels by others, realizing after a time that it’s part of how I hacked my TBI inability to remember what I’d previously read. It was integral to relearning (on 3 separate occasions) how do reading comprehension & retention so I even COULD read books again. Spotify has been revolutionary in this because I don’t actually have a budget for buying music. I can’t even pay all my basic living expenses again yet, so this is one gift I give myself—this precious subscription to one of my life’s greatest joys, which I justify because it’s a tax write off for all the hours I use it for dancing, choreographing, rehearsing, and rehabbing my injuries. 🤪
But it means I don’t buy albums anymore. That’s where the guilt comes from. Then again, I’m a single song downloader because my music budget is confined to the songs I perform to—if I perform to it, I buy it. Because. And since I will just cherry pick the tunes I adore into playlists or mixCDs anyway, I don’t have the financial luxury of buying whole albums to support the amazing artists…
(YET. This is on my top To Do List for when I someday become rich & infamous.)
I almost never use the discover feature of Spotify. I tell them to shut up with their suggestions. It hacks me off. Instead I’m always on external search engines hunting for sounds, themes, titles, moods, artists. Then I go to the Search on Spotify for my own discovery. That’s how I discover new music constantly. Or word of mouth. My playlists are sprawling extravaganzas of ridiculata. Some are 14 hours long and that’s when I shuffle. If Spotify plays the same tunes from a playlist, I start it with a different song. I’m also such a baffling ameobous creature that the algorithm can’t figure me out from season to season and esp year to year because the ADHD is strong with this one and my music devouring changes with each hyperfixation. So I have an amazing shuffle experience. Because it’s MY shuffle for MY curated moods and MY musical obsessions.
AND.
It’s one of the few things that causes me guilt because I’d love to purchase every one of these tunes individually. But then I’d need to be mega rich and have either 5 laptops just for music or a small warehouse for physical albums. 🤪🤣😵💫🥹 So there ya go. All that to say I soooo feel your pain, love the analogue feel, and I currently remain a wanton slut for Spotify, spreading myself all across its sheets every day and night, and then sprinting to confession where I assign myself 50 lashings with my amp cord. 🤣
God this makes me so freaking happy. I feel like we are reaching a critical mass of humans who are fed up with the noise, the choices, the apps, the constant content. It’s miserable and I found myself just hours ago wanting to murder all screens and microphones and anything that required me to engage or respond that wasn’t alive.
I long for slow listening. Slow reading. Slow conversing. Slow living. Your abandoning Spotify is a huge step in the right direction. And extra bonus that you can now leave your phone in the car!
I also crave that slowness. I remember getting music magazines (NME being a particular favourite) reading about a band or album and then seeking it out at a record shop. It was like an adventure. Life felt full of side quests and I miss that.
We’ve sacrificed so much for convenience. and it isn’t even really that convenient - at least not for me haha.
I love Spotify.... it told me that my listening age was 28 ha ha ha... we had an official marriage ceremony shortly after. I spend over 80000 minutes with 'him' last year. Without his guidance I would never have discovered some Aussie bands that I love, Sons of the East, Salt Tree.... I have learnt how to create my playlists carefully, I do whole album faves, not even skipping my least fave tracks ha ha. I don't listen to any DJ stuff. I adore sending tracks to my kids (who were assessed as way older than me on the wrapped thingie - no surprise as they have both been more mature than me since they were about 10!)
hahahaaha yes! it knows how to woo you that’s for sure! and it is harder and harder to find physical media as music magazines and record stores disappear.
I’m glad you have a fulfilling relationship with him!
Somehow, I missed Spotify’s rise, and I think I’m glad I did. I’ve become an album listener these days, with the bulk of my listening to a few artists. I’m the weird guy still buying songs digitally, but like you, I love physical media—I like having the album in holdable form, a thing I can point to and open up. I see the argument against more stuff, but I buy books, I buy movies, and I buy music. Having copy in your home feels like a nice way to honor the art.
In any case, I’d like to think a move away from algorithm-driven listening to a more personally curated experience might yield more intentional listening. I’ve definitely found more pleasure in music when I listen to it more like I read books and watch movies. Not all the time—I put on background music sometimes, too—but any nod in that direction strikes me as positive.
You forgot to mention how cute you looked walking around with your little walkmen.
A nice read, Chicken! :)
hehehe thanks! But to be fair you think I’m cute all the time, even when I’m sulking haha
That’s coz you are always cute :)
Uffffff as a professional artist and blossoming musician, Spotify is my most guilty pleasure in my entire life because of what it does to the musicians, esp those who aren’t SuperGiants. Okay let’s get real, it’s my most guilty obsession because I (apparently) don’t consume music the way many people do. I MF devour it on my own terms. Being a child of the original Mixtape Era, I have always cherry picked. Even on my parents’ vinyl. Obsessive need to choreograph and rehearse got me really deft at placing the needle precisely with enough time to run to the middle of the living room floor and reset before my song came on.
With cassette tapes I was the queen of knowing by the slight variant in the brown tone of the tape and the feel of time’s passage for rewinding my dance song. Or whichever ballad was currently ripping my teenybopper heart out this month. (After recording it from the radio, preferably without the DJ blathering over it.) I appreciate The Album story/flow and the artwork. But I’m super picky about my sounds and when I find what I love I want it on repeat like my circulating life’s blood. Hence my precious mixtapes.
When I gained the ability to mix CDs a new obsession was birthed. Creating “soundtracks” for my own novels so even when I wasn’t actively writing or editing, the story vibe would stay working in my background like a lovely virus. Later I started doing this for my favorite novels by others, realizing after a time that it’s part of how I hacked my TBI inability to remember what I’d previously read. It was integral to relearning (on 3 separate occasions) how do reading comprehension & retention so I even COULD read books again. Spotify has been revolutionary in this because I don’t actually have a budget for buying music. I can’t even pay all my basic living expenses again yet, so this is one gift I give myself—this precious subscription to one of my life’s greatest joys, which I justify because it’s a tax write off for all the hours I use it for dancing, choreographing, rehearsing, and rehabbing my injuries. 🤪
But it means I don’t buy albums anymore. That’s where the guilt comes from. Then again, I’m a single song downloader because my music budget is confined to the songs I perform to—if I perform to it, I buy it. Because. And since I will just cherry pick the tunes I adore into playlists or mixCDs anyway, I don’t have the financial luxury of buying whole albums to support the amazing artists…
(YET. This is on my top To Do List for when I someday become rich & infamous.)
I almost never use the discover feature of Spotify. I tell them to shut up with their suggestions. It hacks me off. Instead I’m always on external search engines hunting for sounds, themes, titles, moods, artists. Then I go to the Search on Spotify for my own discovery. That’s how I discover new music constantly. Or word of mouth. My playlists are sprawling extravaganzas of ridiculata. Some are 14 hours long and that’s when I shuffle. If Spotify plays the same tunes from a playlist, I start it with a different song. I’m also such a baffling ameobous creature that the algorithm can’t figure me out from season to season and esp year to year because the ADHD is strong with this one and my music devouring changes with each hyperfixation. So I have an amazing shuffle experience. Because it’s MY shuffle for MY curated moods and MY musical obsessions.
AND.
It’s one of the few things that causes me guilt because I’d love to purchase every one of these tunes individually. But then I’d need to be mega rich and have either 5 laptops just for music or a small warehouse for physical albums. 🤪🤣😵💫🥹 So there ya go. All that to say I soooo feel your pain, love the analogue feel, and I currently remain a wanton slut for Spotify, spreading myself all across its sheets every day and night, and then sprinting to confession where I assign myself 50 lashings with my amp cord. 🤣
God this makes me so freaking happy. I feel like we are reaching a critical mass of humans who are fed up with the noise, the choices, the apps, the constant content. It’s miserable and I found myself just hours ago wanting to murder all screens and microphones and anything that required me to engage or respond that wasn’t alive.
I long for slow listening. Slow reading. Slow conversing. Slow living. Your abandoning Spotify is a huge step in the right direction. And extra bonus that you can now leave your phone in the car!
I also crave that slowness. I remember getting music magazines (NME being a particular favourite) reading about a band or album and then seeking it out at a record shop. It was like an adventure. Life felt full of side quests and I miss that.
We’ve sacrificed so much for convenience. and it isn’t even really that convenient - at least not for me haha.
It’s not convenient at all! It’s obnoxious!
I love Spotify.... it told me that my listening age was 28 ha ha ha... we had an official marriage ceremony shortly after. I spend over 80000 minutes with 'him' last year. Without his guidance I would never have discovered some Aussie bands that I love, Sons of the East, Salt Tree.... I have learnt how to create my playlists carefully, I do whole album faves, not even skipping my least fave tracks ha ha. I don't listen to any DJ stuff. I adore sending tracks to my kids (who were assessed as way older than me on the wrapped thingie - no surprise as they have both been more mature than me since they were about 10!)
hahahaaha yes! it knows how to woo you that’s for sure! and it is harder and harder to find physical media as music magazines and record stores disappear.
I’m glad you have a fulfilling relationship with him!
Somehow, I missed Spotify’s rise, and I think I’m glad I did. I’ve become an album listener these days, with the bulk of my listening to a few artists. I’m the weird guy still buying songs digitally, but like you, I love physical media—I like having the album in holdable form, a thing I can point to and open up. I see the argument against more stuff, but I buy books, I buy movies, and I buy music. Having copy in your home feels like a nice way to honor the art.
In any case, I’d like to think a move away from algorithm-driven listening to a more personally curated experience might yield more intentional listening. I’ve definitely found more pleasure in music when I listen to it more like I read books and watch movies. Not all the time—I put on background music sometimes, too—but any nod in that direction strikes me as positive.
Great piece.
That’s so nice to hear honestly! I think an argument can be made that all art should be consumed mindfully.
And having to cede literal space in your home to physical media is a good litmus test as too whether you actually want it or not.
I love having all my stuff around me in my house, its part of what makes it a home!
Thank you for reading!
Stuff makes a house look lived in. I’ve been in houses decorated to be borderline empty, and…I’m with you. I like seeing stuff.
And always! I continue to enjoy your reviews and reflection and suspect that won’t change.