Moving to Spain Has Changed the Way I Discover New Music

And Spotify only plays a small role

Source: Author / Valencia, Spain where there's often a party and music always playing somewhere

Before I decided to do all of the things I do now — particularly study and write about personal finance, moving abroad, and urban studies and planning — I had a career in terrestrial radio that officially started in 1988. When I was 13 years old.

Officially meaning that's when I secured my first paying gig. Spinning records, doing news updates, producing national shows, and, eventually, hosting my own programs on the old WJJL in Niagara Falls, NY.

Niagara's Energy 1440.

I detail some of my experience and tell the story of how that came to be in a previous article for The Riff.

But, long(ish) story short — unknowingly at the time and even long after — my early start (obsession) with the radio set the stage for pretty much everything that came next.

I was lucky to start so young in a business that teaches you a lot about not only how to communicate verbally and in writing but how to interact with a diverse set of often eccentric others and deal with life in a volatile business.

Plus, working in radio helped me discover music! I was able to experience the type of music discovery that doesn’t exist anymore beyond the racks and stacks, bins…