Has technology helped us to enjoy music?

blue note · 26-01-2014 01:37PM #1

When I was growing up I think we used to listen to music very differently. I started buying CDs in the late 90s.

Back then, you put considerable thought into what CDs to buy. I remember going into music shops and trawling through their two for £15 sections (became two for €20) for bargins. A lot of what I bought was based on knowing a couple of songs, but an awful lot was bought on reputation and recommendation.

But I think we appreciated the albums all the more for it. Anything I bought I gave considerable time to listen to. You wouldn't dismiss anything after half a song after paying a meaningful amount of money for it! I remember telling people about great finds and borrowing and loaning albums to people.

Now, everyone seems to have endless music collections which they haven't paid for. You mention Leonard Cohen to someone and they might tell you that they have his entire album collection on their computer. But collection is a very apt word - they're more collecting it than listening to it. The whole thing might be there, but if they had bought I'm Your Man in a shop they'd probably have taken time to listen to it. Having the entire collection there I think it's more likely they've never listened to any of it properly.

So with all this cheap access to vast catalogues of music, has it improved our relationship with music? Do we enjoy it more or less?

TwoShedsJackson · 26-01-2014 01:40PM

http://s28.postimg.org/747dueacd/26750.png

stefan idiot jones · 26-01-2014 01:43PM

The same only with better quality.

Spunge · 26-01-2014 01:43PM

Its certainly allowed me access to a lot of lesser known genres or bands that id in no way have heard otherwise.
But i also think you end up with some much music it does take a bit more effort to really give a certain album or genre the time it may need to properly appreciate it.

Also with things like wikipedia and tonnes of online reviews and forums you can get a good idea about all the different genres and bands, and what people like and what they dont, rather than say just music mag reviews.

Looking at my CD collection now its full of crap, compared to what ive found online in the last few years.

Bipolar Joe · 26-01-2014 01:43PM

I think it has and it hasn't. It's really down to the listener. A lot of the music I listen to is free online, any ways (Ravenous, Ladyscraper, so on). I still buy music, because I like the art and liner notes, and giving money to the artist creates incentive for the artist to create more. I listen to online music a whole lot, but I know people who haves terabytes worth of MP3s that they've never listened to. On the same hand, there's a couple of records I've owned for ages, and have listened to maybe once.

blue note · 26-01-2014 01:46PM

Spunge wrote: »

Also with things like wikipedia and tonnes of online reviews and forums you can get a good idea about all the different genres and bands, and what people like and what they dont, rather than say just music mag reviews.

It also lets people have an opinion on music without having listened to it. It might not be their own opinion, but they mightn't care or even notice.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 26-01-2014 01:48PM

Noel Gallagher talked about this recently. He said when you invest both your time in travelling to the record store and money in the actual record or CD that you'll give it more of a chance, you're not going to skip through with a click of a mouse.

Personally I love physical copies of recordings, the smell, the album artwork the liner notes etc, I like having my collection even though I do use modern technology to listen to music also.

A bit like books and kindles I suppose, the kindle is handy and efficient but I still prefer holding the real deal in my hands.

Kia_Kaha · 26-01-2014 01:48PM

For me personally, yes. I have discovered so many bands through YouTube and Spotify that I would never have without.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 26-01-2014 01:49PM

a friend of mine in Canada put a song on her facebook wall a couple of weeks ago. the next day I listened to it, within 15 minutes I had the album downloaded. 2 hours later I bought it on bandcamp and I've listened to it at least once a day since then. it's easily one of my favourite albums now and I'd probably never have heard of them ten years ago. (they only formed 2 years ago but assuming it was 10 years ago I'd never have heard of them if they formed 2 years before that, you pedantic wanker)

--edit

so yes.

---edit

just so I don't get accused of being a one direction fan years after I lose the ability to edit this post

mikom · 26-01-2014 01:57PM

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

a friend of mine in Canada put a song on her facebook wall a couple of weeks ago. the next day I listened to it, within 15 minutes I had the album downloaded. 2 hours later I bought it on bandcamp and I've listened to it at least once a day since then. it's easily one of my favourite albums now and I'd probably never have heard of them ten years ago. (they only formed 2 years ago but assuming it was 10 years ago I'd never have heard of them if they formed 2 years before that, you pedantic wanker)

And thus began Sir Digby Chicken Caesars love affair with "One Direction".
Thanks friend from Canada....

uncle_sam_ie · 26-01-2014 02:01PM

Absolutely. Now we aren't limited to music that some record company deems worthy.

Hello_MrFox · 26-01-2014 02:05PM

Utorrent allows me the download an album in seconds. It be interesting to find out how many people actually illegally download as opposed to buying a new album.

boobar · 26-01-2014 02:05PM

Completely agree with OP...

I started to get into music in the mid 80s.

Because there wasn't a lot of money available and music wasn't "free" like today, you chose one or two bands and decided that was your lot.

Now, I have a much broader appreciation of different genres of music, but I admit to having lots of music stored that I haven't invested any time in listening to and enjoying.

drunkmonkey · 26-01-2014 02:07PM

A Sonos has been one of my best investments, if I never see another CD again it'll be too soon.
Eagerly awaiting Pono by Neil Young if it ever comes. The sound from cd's these days is poor, SACD was a step in the right direction.

Mr. CooL ICE · 26-01-2014 02:14PM

The sheer amount of commercial sh1te that is shoved down our throats through crappy everyday radio stations has disenfranchised a lot of people to the point that radio is outright ignored. If you want to listen to music that appeals to your senses instead of what marketing tells you to listen to, you need the internet.

The more I listen to the radio, the more I think that music is going downhill and all new bands are crap. However, there are great bands out there, but you need to rely on the internet to find them.

The internet allows a lot of great artists reach a wide audience without the help of the music industry. Unfortunately, this also means that a lot of mediocre artists can force themselves on a wider audience than they deserve.

I never really got into Spotify, but gave google play music a try and I love it. Granted, it is missing a lot of bands, but through it I have discovered a load of bands that I would never have considered.

No real point to this rant. Meh

SamAK · 26-01-2014 02:15PM

Aha, coincidence!

I made a short radio documentary on this for a college assignment the other day. I used to be a 'digital' kid, but in the last few months i've started collecting vinyl. No comparison, tangible music is the way to go for me. Have a listen if you like ->

https://soundcloud.com/sam-ak-3/vinyl-revival

GLaDOS · 26-01-2014 02:18PM

I'd never have heard of half the bands I listen to without the internet.

MadsL · 26-01-2014 02:45PM

Home taping is killing music

Andy-Pandy · 26-01-2014 03:07PM

I discovered a new music streaming service called Qobuz last night that streams in FLAC. I've signed up for a one month trial and if the collection is any good will go on with it. Streaming in this high a quality is a game changer for me and I'll pay the extra price for it.

Irish Guitarist · 26-01-2014 03:15PM

My father used to give me £2.00 every week and I would immediately buy a seven inch single and listen to it for hours on end. Eventually I would turn it over and listen to the B side. I could only afford to buy an album when I got money for Christmas or my birthday.

Nowadays teenagers can just listen to whatever they like without having to pay for it. In my opinion this kills their appreciation for music. You just have to look at the comments on a YouTube video. Teenagers would rather complain that "this sucks" than use the search function to find something they like, probably because they have no idea what they like.

Butterface · 26-01-2014 03:34PM

No doubt about it, the way the majority of us listen to music has changed. I only got my own laptop 5 years ago, and until then I was still buying CDs I really wanted. However, I was also giving my friends blank CDs to fill up with albums I wanted that they had, so that was another way of acquiring music that has probably gone by the wayside too.

I wonder what effect this changing consumption of music will have on artists. Nowadays, I'll easily admit that unless it's an artist I really enjoy or have gone to see live, I don't sit down and listen to whole albums anymore.

It's like music on the go.. the shuffle mechanism on your MP3 player/phone chooses for you. Or you create playlists of songs to reflect certain moods etc. Or you just simply decide to listen to that one catchy song on Youtube and start following links to similar songs by different artists.

So with this type of consumption in mind, how many artists are going to continue to write songs to fill an album? Many of my favourite albums certainly contain a few weak songs. With this new type of consumption, will artists bother to release their weaker tracks?

Bounty Hunter Dan · 26-01-2014 03:39PM

No.

For a start, you can't just easily play a section of music in reverse and listen to hidden satanic messages telling you to top yourself the way you could in the good old days.

bnt · 26-01-2014 05:21PM

I find that the listening environment makes a huge difference to my enjoyment, and there's not much that technology can do about that. I walk through central Dublin on the way to and from work, and find that I can't listen to music then, simply because I can't hear it properly over the background noise.

The music I like isn't the over-compressed stuff you hear on the radio, the stuff that sounds like it's always turned up to 11. It can have quiet sections, covering the whole dynamic range from soft to loud. When there's background noise, the dynamics are lost, and in quiet sections it may as well be off. I have some closed-back Bluetooth headphones that keep out the noise fairly well, but I find myself looking round more, worried that I'll find myself under a bus I didn't hear.

So I tend to listen to spoken word material e.g. audiobooks & podcasts, where it's all about the content, not the sound quality. I compress the heck out of podcasts (and speed them up) before I transfer the files to my phone. That way the words come through clearly at volume levels that don't deafen me.

What I should do at home, more, is sit down to listen to an album in one sitting. Just me and a pair of good headphones. But for that to work, I need to cut out other distractions: put the phone aside, close Boards, and just listen.

Lightbulb Sun · 26-01-2014 05:24PM

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

The same only with better quality.

I'd argue technologies like mp3 have lessened quality by encouraging compression. In many cases what people are listening to won't sound as good as a CD or vinyl.

J_E · 26-01-2014 05:36PM

Vinyl is making a comeback because the CD failed in terms of a physical package and staying value. If you're the kind of person who downloads full discographies all the time you're doing a disservice to the music and to yourself, it never leaves the same impact.

People who download Youtube videos and convert to MP3...oh boy. Can't stand that. If you're content listening to awful quality on your 5 euro earphones, just don't drag me into the cesspit with you.

Also, loudness war on chart music gets worse and worse...don't know how people bear it sometimes.

Tennis Ball · 26-01-2014 05:44PM

Yes, the invention of stings and pipes has certainly improved our enjoyment of music. Amazing technology.

BetterThanThou · 26-01-2014 05:48PM

I feel I definitely wouldn't have as much interest in music without advances in technology. For instance, if I hear of a band, usually my first instinct would be to search a song by them and listen to it. This is how I gained an interest in many bands. And there's also a lot of bands I don't like as bands, but I like some of their individual songs. So I wouldn't spend €10+ just to listen to one or two songs when I can just pay 99c per song. Then Spotify came along and deepened my interest in music, I can listen to most songs at the click of a button with no extra cost, and not only that, based on what I listen to, Spotify will also make recommendations for me, discovering new music is as simple as clicking the "Discover" tab and trying what Spotify suggests. I feel I'm also much more likely to appreciate bands as a whole now, rather than just some of their music. I have playlists with the entire discography of many bands which I listen to, compared to only two that I purchased physically/digitally. So, I personally feel technology has helped me enjoy music a lot more.

MadsL · 26-01-2014 05:51PM

Tennis Ball wrote: »

Yes, the invention of stings and pipes has certainly improved our enjoyment of music. Amazing technology.

Always knew he was a robot.

Molester Stallone · 26-01-2014 06:06PM

Spotify has been a major boost to music imo. Never would have spent money on actual cd's if I hadn't first had the opportunity to listen to individual tracks beforehand. I've found it's broadened my musical horizons a little

SilverScreen · 26-01-2014 06:13PM

Technology, in particularly the internet, has definitely helped me to enjoy music more and find new stuff to listen to. Before I had internet access I used to have to rely on radio, music channels and music magazines like Kerrang! (lol) to find new music. In the past few years with websites like last.fm, Rate Your Music and various music blogs I can pick and choose and avoid having crap music shoved down my throat by the powers that be.

J_E · 26-01-2014 06:15PM

Molester Stallone wrote: »

Spotify has been a major boost to music imo. Never would have spent money on actual cd's if I hadn't first had the opportunity to listen to individual tracks beforehand. I've found it's broadened my musical horizons a little

Spotify is great. It's massively curbed piracy. Whatever some artists claim about crappy royalty rates, don't realise how much more potential loss there is with big crowds. Hoping it lives on.

Has technology helped us to enjoy music?

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