Thoughts on Music, Streaming, and iPods
Spotify dominates the landscape, but nostalgia is strong
I started listening to music — really listening to it — in the middle of the 2000s. I got my first iPod during that era, happily downloading and ripping music to play on my device. It was a huge part of my life, and for years I considered the collection of files that made up my digital music library as one of my most treasured possessions.
Now, of course, the music landscape looks much different. Digital music rocked the industry to its core as the century turned, but now streaming services have largely replaced iTunes and the bevy of other storefronts. You can still buy music (and many do!), but we as a collective consume music much differently than we did 15 years ago.
Music is always changing, just like the industry beneath it. Many words have been spilled about the difficulties of becoming a successful artist. These articles were popping up as Apple dominated the world of buying music; I can only imagine how much harder it is now that streaming royalties have replaced digital sales (which themselves replaced CDs and vinyl). We’re in a completely different landscape, and going back is impossible.
A few months ago, I dug through a collection of old hard drives to find my old music library. I switched to streaming services in roughly the middle of 2015, so the music on these files was cut off at that date. Some of the most recent albums I have in this collection are Taylor Swift’s 1989, The Gaslight Anthem’s Get Hurt, and Anberlin’s Lowborn. I had to piece together several backups to get the whole library, but I eventually was able to drag and drop everything into the “Music” application (which replaced iTunes) on my computer.
I also obtained an almost-new iPod nano from my dad, one from the last generation that looks more like a slimmed-down iPod touch than one of the previous click-wheel iPods. I filled it with as much music as I could. In an ecstasy of music preservation, I also tracked down an iPod Classic on eBay, only to find that it had a broken headphone jack (which is replaceable, but I haven’t worked up the courage to really try, yet).
But here, my enthusiasm fizzled out. I love the idea of going back to owning music, but I have to think about the logistics of it. I’ve been streaming music for well over half a decade now — my tastes have changed to an extent, and I’ve found countless new albums and songs that I love. Going back to owned music would mean either paying a significant amount of money to get this music again, or leaving behind a significant portion of music that is pretty core to my tastes today.
And yet, the experience of playing old music on a functioning iPod is intoxicating. I’m self-aware enough to realize that a large percentage of this enjoyment comes from nostalgia, but I also think there’s something to the idea of a device that can only do one thing, but does that thing very well. It’s part of why my Kindle is probably my favorite handheld device to use. Listening to music on an old iPod means that I can’t get distracted by the internet or a notification. There’s just me and the music. It’s powerful.
Buying music today is an odd experience. The iTunes Store still exists, but you have to dig through Apple Music ads and different tabs on the Music app to get to it. Amazon still sells mp3s as well, but it’s clear that the company keeps the store running as a formality. There’s very little effort put into the webpage.
Bandcamp is probably the best possible alternative to Spotify at the moment for people who really want to buy their music. It’s a site that gives the vast majority of revenue to artists and labels, keeping only a little for itself. But check the news stories from a few months ago, and you’ll see that Bandcamp was purchased by Epic Games (which is a real sentence that I just typed and you just read). The site hasn’t change at all since the acquisition, but the potential is always ether now.
When I started writing this post, I envisioned myself with some huge critique of the music industry or with some suggestion for the future. Instead, I’ll end by noting that I’m listening to Spotify at the moment though my AirPods, perhaps the best encapsulation of music listening in 2022 that you can find. I bitterly miss the days of the iPod and buying music, but I’m not sure that I have the conviction to rebuild them on my own.
The views expressed are mine alone and do not represent the views of my employer or any other person or organization.
