My wife and I were in the car, listening to the Spotify playlist I put together from my last NoCamo post. As we drove along, I marveled aloud about the difference between finding new music today as opposed to, say, 30 years ago. For instance, the other day I read a blog post from my RSS reader on my laptop, found the songs mentioned on Spotify on my phone, and started listening to them a few minutes after that. A few decades ago, I might have read a magazine or newspaper review of a new record or cassette release, made a trip to the record store, searched through the racks of recordings, found the album in question (if it was in stock), bought the entire album, and listened to it when I was near the appropriate hi-fi device.
Big difference, right?
But Jamy had a good point. She remarked that there are those that would not mind that process, because they enjoy the hunt. The thrill of the find.
Hadn’t thought of that.
But that still exists, doesn’t it?
The reason it is so difficult to find good music today is because it is SO accessible, available, and easy to produce. Anybody with a decent laptop can put out CD quality music, with or without the skill to pull it off. So the hunt still takes place… to find GOOD music among the noise.
That’s why I really enjoy Spotify (and I’m not getting paid to say so). The social aspect of the service is crucial. I can see playlists from my friends who choose to share them, and find new music along the way. As I find new material, I’m going to make more of an effort to share my playlists (I don’t share everything, but I’ll be intentional with songs I think will uplift NoCamo).
Have any new music that is lifting your spirits lately? Share in the comments. Thanks!
Not a Camouflaged Soul 
I use the free version of Spotify; I’m amazed there can be a free version. The ads are a little loud when they play and they usually feature music that is completely different than my preferences. In general, I think Spotify could make some dramatic improvements in it’s interface. One thing I’d love to see is Spotify and Pandora merge. I enjoy music, but usually can’t think of an artist/group/song to listen to. Pandora will take my single preference of J.D. Sumner and pull in Big Chief, Oak Ridge Boys, etc–I find that helpful. But I don’t use Pandora that much–in fact, my music listening has hugely decreased as I’ve aged–mostly I’m just too busy reading & I’ve never been the kind of guy who can listen to music while trying to think of something else. Thanks to spotify I began listening to the rat pack a while back. I’d love to build some other lists, but the spotify interface makes that tedious. I recall seeing a tweet a while back where someone was saying the joke is now on the person that stole their CD library a few years back–I can certainly understand; streaming services have largely made personal music collections obsolete. All I need now is broadband internet in my car and I’m set 😉
One of the benefits of non-free Spotify is the use of it on mobile devices. I don’t have to store my entire iTunes library on my phone, although you can opt for offline access to the songs you listen to the most.
I like Pandora too, for my more non-decisive moments.