Has easy availability of music stopped us enjoying it so much?

**bassybill** · #1 02-19-2011, 12:22 PM

Old guy musings here...

As a youngster, I can remember really loving some music that I didn't have at home. For example, it was a real treat to go to the house of a friend and listen to an album that I wanted but hadn't been able to buy yet.

At home, the only way to listen to music was on my dad's system. I had to ask to use it when he wasn't, and when I got lucky I played the very few records that I had. A little later I worked a part time job and bought some gear of my own so I could listen to those same few records, with the occasional addition.

Fast forward, and nowadays I think most of us, kids included, can hear pretty much anything we want whenever we want. This is, of course, totally awesome... but... somehow, I don't think I'll ever enjoy anything more than when I went to my pal's house maybe once or twice a month, just so I'd get to listen to stuff I absolutely loved, and he'd got it and I hadn't.

Short version - nowadays, can any of us imagine really loving some music and having to wait a month until you got a chance to hear it again?

DanNowhere · #2 02-19-2011, 12:28 PM

On the contrary, I think having music more readily available opens up the possibility of finding more stuff you'd like that you might not have otherwise.

When I was a kid in the 70s/80s, the biggest deciding factor on buying something I'd never heard before was how cool the album cover was. And the only place to hear something was on commercial radio. A band like The Arcade Fire wouldn't have had a hope in hell of even a Grammy nomination twenty-five or thirty years ago.

**bassybill** · #3 02-19-2011, 01:04 PM

I agree that there's more stuff out there - but do we enjoy music more? That was the question.

onosson · #4 02-19-2011, 01:15 PM

My kids love listening to music, searching through youtube is a big activity for them. I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to have that when I was their age - I don't see how it removes any enjoyment. I find that I listen to a LOT more music now than I did maybe 15 years ago, and that is 100% due to the availability of so many different genres on the internet. It can still be a challenge to find the good stuff, you're just searching for it in a different place - obscure corners of the internet vs. obscure record shops.

kuys · #5 02-19-2011, 01:17 PM

Yes, we do.

Please don't take this as insult but I think your starting to get to the age where everything becomes nostalgic. That nostalgia starts to color your memories of past events. Hence the expression "seeing the world thru rose colored glasses."

**bassybill** · #6 02-19-2011, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuys

Yes, we do.

Please don't take this as insult but I think your starting to get to the age where everything becomes nostalgic. That nostalgia starts to color your memories of past events. Hence the expression "seeing the world thru rose colored glasses."

You may be right to some very limited degree. But the pleasure I'm talking about is real and not imagined, believe me. Unless you're of an age where you've experienced it, it will be very hard for you to understand.

I'm absolutely sure that in some respects, instant availability of any commodity reduces the pleasure you get out of it, compared to it being a rare treat.

Renaissance · #7 02-19-2011, 01:32 PM

I grew up in much the same way. On a positive note we're exposed to a lot more music now. The downside is we're exposed to a lot more music now.

bass12 · #8 02-19-2011, 01:51 PM

I think music is like a lot of other things: the more readily available the more it's taken for granted. I also think that people are less likely to, for example, to take the time to listen to an album in its entirety these days. When I was younger all I had were a few albums so I'd listen to those until I knew them backwards. In my teens my absolute favourite thing to do was go record shopping. I was really into a lot of stuff that wasn't necessarily easy to find (mostly U.K. artists that didn't receive widespread distribution in North America). On the occasions that I came across that rare single or album that I'd been searching for I would be ecstatic and the music would mean that much more to me, partially on account of its having been difficult to acquire. Now almost anything is available at the touch of a button and, while that is great in a way, it also kills a lot of the romanticism of the whole experience for me.

UncleFluffy · #9 02-19-2011, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassybill

You may be right! But I still think instant availability of any commodity reduces the pleasure you get out of it, compared to it being a rare treat.

Maybe it's the increased availability, maybe it's the reduction in free time relative to being a teenager, (and maybe it's just I don't get stoned any more) but I find it a lot rarer for me to just stop and listen to music with 100% of my attention nowadays. It's much more often "wallpaper" instead of "book".

I tend to believe that we value things to the extent we had to work for them - people take good health for granted until it's gone as just one example. When I can click on any one of ten thousand different (and legal) mp3 streams and hear music with no effort required, suited to my mood, that doesn't challenge me at all, each individual piece seems far less important.

I also miss the days when it was more magical.

onosson · #10 02-19-2011, 02:05 PM

Let's not also forget that most people in the world are not huge fans of music - shocking to some of us musicians, but some people just don't care about music at all!

odin70 · #11 02-19-2011, 02:09 PM

When i was a kid i took the bus for one hour to get to the nearest record store. I would hang there for hours before i found that one record that i wanted to buy. I sat on the bus for one hour back home, staring at my new music. Came home, listen to the music for hours over and over again..for weeks. I loved it. Nowdays i have all the music in the world right here in my living room..and i couldnt care less.

The Last Rebel · #12 02-19-2011, 02:10 PM

This is just me, but I think I'm living in the best possible era for music. I'm still able to enjoy an album just as much as you did, I listen to vinyl, I anticipate releases, all that great stuff. On the flipside I'm also able to find dozens upon dozens of bands I never could without the internet. I'm able to hear an album before I ever buy it. The internet is a great tool for me musically, but that's just me.

bassbrad · #13 02-19-2011, 02:14 PM

I'm with you Bill, I remember the ritual of playing records, the magic of discovery, going to the record store even making the special trip to the big city for ultra coolness. Also the social ritual of the hang, going to other peoples places and listening to their selections and them coming over and listening to mine. Now who has the time? Portable devices are wonderful but the social experience of a listening party seems long gone. Man I even have a hard time getting folks to actually listen to a mix for approval.
As mentioned by Dan the lost experience of Album covers, there are Lps I have for the cover alone. With the CD and now the digital download there is nothing to hold or read, I liked to read album covers and credits.

Waterpilot · #14 02-19-2011, 02:14 PM

I think so... It has for me. As some others have mentioned, part of the fun was going to the record stores with friends and finding stuff no one else had. New music no one had heard of... Piecing together a stereo system through trading, small amounts of money, and hand me downs...

My friends and I would go to music stores and buy albums on nothing more then album artwork and track names... Getting to the music store, searching for something, the anticipation of getting home to listening to it... None of that happens now.

Plus, I was always able to find something I like in everything I bought. Now it goes into a massive digital pile of songs I'll probably never listen to again... Why? Because I don't have to.

EDIT:

I was typing when you wrote this...

Quote:

Originally Posted by odin70

When i was a kid i took the bus for one hour to get to the nearest record store. I would hang there for hours before i found that one record that i wanted to buy. I sat on the bus for one hour back home, staring at my new music. Came home, listen to the music for hours over and over again..for weeks. I loved it. Nowdays i have all the music in the world right here in my living room..and i couldnt care less.

Big +1

Waterpilot · #15 02-19-2011, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassbrad

Also the social ritual of the hang, going to other peoples places and listening to their selections and them coming over and listening to mine. Now who has the time? Portable devices are wonderful but the social experience of a listening party seems long gone.

I agree. I too feel that the entire process of buying, and listening to music was much more social back then. It had to be as getting to the music store was a day's plan. Now, when everyone can buy it sitting on a couch, and then IM thier buddy about it or just e-mail the album to him/ her... It just isn't the same social experience to me.

thudfromafar · #16 02-19-2011, 02:27 PM

Yeah, it's much more difficult. Even for musicians, but especially for non-musicians.
Fortunately still possible.

I think it's because we have virtually all the music in the world available to us at one click, so we have a hard time focusing on just one thing. How many people have a favorite band? Right. Everyone has like 100 "favorite" bands.

Exploiter8 · #17 02-19-2011, 02:36 PM

It started with CD's. I used to enjoy buying an album, putting on side one, and studying the liner notes. Didn't we all feel blessed if the album included the lyrics, too? Nowadays people tend to gravitate towards the hits, possibly neglecting some hidden gems! That's my take.

X8

Chowowbus · #18 02-19-2011, 02:37 PM

I too remember coveting a new record..I remember back then how intimatly I got to know every song on an album..eventually even the songs I did not like became favorites just because I had so few albums to listen too..Now theres so much to choose from that i get overwhelmed!
I just cant keep up...and one day all you fresh young faces will wake up and look back at the young crowd and feel the pain that you are now an outcast

...mwahahaha! Muahahahaa! muaha...cough cough..stupid whippersnappers get off my lawn!!

svenbass · #19 02-19-2011, 03:13 PM

Real music fans will always dig in and find the same enjoyment and appreciate what is coming out of the speakers.

I still get excited when I get new music either on CD or via the web. I love CD books and album art, but also love being able to dig up info on the interwebs and geek out that way.

I know what you are saying though

baalroo · #20 02-19-2011, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassbrad

I'm with you Bill, I remember the ritual of playing records, the magic of discovery, going to the record store even making the special trip to the big city for ultra coolness.

I'm actually in the age group where as a kid this was my experience, but I was just out of high school when Napster exploded and changed everything. So, I'm equally comfortable and familiar with both sides of this. I remember to a certain degree the enjoyment of finding a rare album that I wanted, but MOSTLY I just remember being constantly frustrated knowing how much awesome stuff I was missing out on.

Quote:

Also the social ritual of the hang, going to other peoples places and listening to their selections and them coming over and listening to mine. Now who has the time? Portable devices are wonderful but the social experience of a listening party seems long gone.

Honestly, this sounds like a personal problem. All the people I know still do this regularly, except at the end of the night everyone leaves with their favorite stuff from the night added to their own personal collection.

Quote:

Man I even have a hard time getting folks to actually listen to a mix for approval.
As mentioned by Dan the lost experience of Album covers, there are Lps I have for the cover alone. With the CD and now the digital download there is nothing to hold or read, I liked to read album covers and credits.

Album covers aren't lost, Vinyl is selling more than it has in about 30 years. Every serious music lover I know has a record player and stacks of vinyl and even my fairly small city has 3 record stores that only sell Vinyl. And besides, when you listen to digital music in your home hooked up to your living room sound system and using your TV as your monitor (which people 30 and under generally do) with a service like last.fm running you have links to artwork, bios, links to the bands websites, forums to talk with other fans about the album, tour information, etc displayed on a high definition screen right in front of your face! Sure you can't hold it in your hand, but the trade off of interactivity and waaaaay more info is worth it IMO.