No Streaming: Why I Choose to Control My Media

Spotify, Netflix, and all the rest are great, but I don’t want to have to rely on them

It seems everyone is now listening to streaming services. From Spotify to Pandora to Tidal to Beats 1 Radio, there are plenty of options.

That’s wonderful, but I have absolutely zero interest in the whole thing. I hated radio even before it started to suck.

I remember sitting with my head by the speaker of my boombox, listening to Power 99, two fingers hovering over the Play and Record button, waiting to hear that one song that I wanted — no, needed — to have on tape so I could listen to it whenever I wanted. Until that song came on, I was a hostage, forced to sit through commercials and DJ’s trying to be funny and songs I despised in an effort just to hear that one song. Once I had it, though, my need for radio was finished for the time being. As soon as I had the songs I wanted, I could create my own microstation.

Even before Napster and mp3’s and streaming and YouTube, I only listened to what I wanted to listen to. This meant I was usually late in hearing the newest song, but if it was good it would eventually get to me. In the meantime, my yellow Sony walkman was either playing albums I loved or letting me pay attention to new albums, giving…