If music is like a glass of red wine, drink, drink, drink. Butjust don’t let technology become your decanter.
So when was the last time you bought some music? And I meanphysically, not online. Have you been to a music store recently? In the last 3years? They’re tough to find nowadays, aren’t they? With the arrival of theInternet and with it digital music, many physical music stores have had to shutshop. Though this isn’t simply the case in the music industry (see Newsweekgoing all online from next year), it’s definitely given people some food forthought.
The tech steam-roller takes no prisoners, leaves no manstanding and is all-pervasive. It doesn’t care if you’re not interested. If youlive somewhere outside of the Amazon Rainforest, Papua New Guinea or possiblyGreenland, chances are you’ll be affected. Gone are the days of mix tapes,browsing through Music World, Planet M (in India), HMV or Our Price (in the UK)or possibly even listening to the radio. Now it’s all playlists, music ondemand and pay per song. You could even say the age of the album is over. Sadin a way but it is what it is.
And no matter how many time I use the “shuffle” function onmy iTunes it just isn’t the same as radio. Those days seem lost, when friendswould even record off the radio on cassettes and wait for the Top 40 hits ofthe week. I miss not knowing, the expectation, and the interest in a new songor band. I want to be surprised, feel nostalgic or (especially in today’s dayand age) aghast at what constitutes no. 1 on the Billboard Charts.
This is why I’ve been trying to compensate and create abalance between the then and now. OK, granted technology is here to stay andyes, it is great but let me cater it to my needs. So I’ve discovered onlineradio. Hundreds of stations, bands, music, playing surprise-me songscategorised by genre, sub-genre or even drum-beats (ok maybe not drum-beats).
OK, this wasn’t a new discovery but more a re-discovery. Andit feels great! Now Tech and I can live side by side more or less in harmony -or at least without suffocation. A long term digital marriage? Possibly. Thoughone that’s more made in China than in heaven.
Rahul Ahmad is Editor (Online) - thegoan.net.
This is his take on technology, culture, general banter andbrain food.
