To be honest, I really didn’t know what the hell I was going to call today’s article. But, I’ve been thinking of a subject I find interesting (kind of). For those of us older folk who decided to live in the 21st century (in regards to entertainment), how has music streaming changed (if any) your personal relationships with others? For instance; has creating a digital playlist, instead of making a cassette tape/CD for a “significant other,” indirectly made love feel a bit impersonal? On a deeper level, it’s not just about “the old days,” right? When someone made you a cassette tape (especially if it was a 90 minute tape), you knew that person spent all day deciding the right music to express his or her love to you. Then there’s the work of actually digging up all their albums and putting their final choices on the cassette with your name on it. Nowadays, your new mate can just have iTunes do it 10 seconds, and they will tell you “I’ve made a playlist just for you!” ? ?
I’ve realized, while music streaming is the best thing that could have ever happen to mankind, it also can be the absolute worst for mankind. There are times I wish we could go back to the old business model. Although we couldn’t afford music, when we could we purchased music we appreciated, and were also able to physically archive them. I think that the unlimited access to music has somehow made this generation of music consumers even less diverse. And I now that there are many factors for that. Don’t get me wrong, I still keep in mind that not every young listener is closed minded to listening to other music genres, but at the same time they are a very very small minority. Also, the flip side to that is we now have a plethora of music history on streaming platforms that the average older folk refuse to learn, or too intimidated.
Music isn’t just about “changing someone’s mood.” The type of music we listen to, is often linked to the kinds of personalities we all have. With so many of the young generation almost exclusively listening to pop or hip hop, I often wonder what their social life would look like for these same individuals in their 60s? Or even 70s. I also wonder whether this can signify a lack of social growth? Not having parents that are musically diverse has really killed a lot of our culture, and no one seems to care, or willing to take responsibility. Then again, why would they? If you don’t understand the impact, they’re not going to give a rat’s ass.
Of course, it is also true that the future could surprise all of us and take a completely different direction. Naturally, as we get older (musically speaking), for many of us at some point we’ll start looking for different music as the old genres get repetitive. My only concern is that the algorithms are based one the artists we listen too overall. It will not be so easy to change those algorithms. I think this may mean we still need traditional radio. I know I’ve thrown a lot of different things in this article, but that was what I was thinking today. Some food for thought! Thanks for reading.