Everything is streamable now. Actually, it's not. There's a bunch of stuff that you can't stream. But the pile of stuff that you can is so big that it’s effectively infinite. And time is limited so, you know…
I’ve never been a Spotify listener. I don't like them as a company and… well that's enough. I don't need any other reason to keep my money in my tight little fist.
Of course, I like Apple as a company. I pay for Apple Music as part of the bigger services bundle, and I think it's a pretty good deal. But I do sort of regret boxing up hundreds and hundreds of CDs and DVDs I collected over the years and sending them off to landfill. They were taking up a lot of space in the house, but when I look back on it, they weren't taking up much space in the storeroom under the house.
I can't help feeling I probably should've held onto them.
Not sure why.
Ex post facto hoarders instinct maybe.
I’ve read a couple of pieces over the last few weeks by people who did hold onto their discs and had reason to be thankful. Internet failure, mostly. And I know that when the inevitable happens and the sun explodes and collapses our entire civilisation, it wouldn't matter that I had a bunch of physical discs. I still wouldn't be able to play them.
But it feels like I made a mistake.
This guy writing at Techradar makes the point that physical media is starting to come back in music. Not just vinyl but CDs too, which sound a lot better than Spotify.
It’s not just because I’m a hoarder who can’t let go of the past that I’m planning to spend 2025 like it’s the height of Britpop all over again (and the Oasis reunion has nothing to do with it either).
Spotify’s refusal to increase its streaming quality has been bothering me for some time, but it was only when I was listening to some of those old MP3s that I realised just how noticeable it is. Why was I choosing to listen to audibly inferior versions of stuff I’d spent so much time and money collecting?
He also makes the point that he rarely listens to full albums nowadays because of the ability to simply cherry-pick whatever you want to listen to, usually single songs, on streaming platforms. And again, it rang true with me. I still go out of my way occasionally to listen to full albums. You just get in the mood for them. They are sort of an experience in a way that a playlist can never be.
But, I guess it's too late now anyway. Those discs are gone.