How music got away from us

If you want to listen to the Eagles you have to first pull out your phone, select your music app, and then search for the Eagles. So in essence, music is just one small part of your phone and your phone is just one small part of your life.

My brother gifted me a record player a few years ago. I didn’t have a good place to put it so it was just lying in storage after a few listens. When I recently moved, I suddenly had space for it and decided to bring it out of storage. And then I went record shopping.

Back in college I was obsessed with music, listening to everything from classic rock to death metal. There was a time when you couldn’t see me without a metal t-shirt. I also had this Transcend music player with a lot of amazing songs. It was still the dawn of the smartphone era and the iPhone had only just launched. Music was still close enough. You had a dedicated device like an iPod with your favourite music.

In the record store, I heard ‘Money’ by Pink Floyd after many years and the experience was breathtaking. I ended up purchasing a vintage Eagles vinyl printed in 1976. It was expensive and honestly at the time of purchase I felt like this would not be worth it. Can't I just listen to it on my phone?

But if that was so easy, why haven't I heard to the Eagles in months, if not years?

Most of the time these days, I just listen to LoFi music when I am working. My listens of some of my favourite rock albums have steadily decreased over time. It’s like I replaced music with other things in my life. And I can tell you exactly what I have replaced it with.

When you unlock your smartphone, which app do you open? My bet is on social media. Its so easy to open up Instagram and just doom scroll. And so now I have to make the deliberate decision to open the music app. The interface does not guide me to it. And then I am provided with endless suggestions of new artists and so then I have to make another deliberate choice to search for a specific artist.

We have made music less accessible by making it less physical. Your music has been reduced one data point in your life, buried inside apps and streaming services. Your direct association with music has been replaced by an intermediary, the smartphone. And the time you once allocated to music has been replaced by social media.

Today when I walked home, I noticed my Eagles record immediately, and decided to listen to it. And it was awesome. Just like the old days when you had a catalog of your favourite artists to choose from. I don’t know if the record quality is better than what my Bose speaker can play. But I can say that I am enjoying it. And isn’t that the point ?

This is one area where technology should take a step back. There has been an increased demand for iPods recently and I think there is broader movement towards more analog and less digital.

I have decided I am going to buy a lot more albums from a lot more artists. Let’s bring music back into our lives.