How Do You Listen To Music and Do You Even Listen?
Is There A Music Player In Your Possession?
Introduction
As you have probably gathered, music is a great part of my life. Allegedly the first record that I liked was "Hound Dog" by Elvis Presley when I was around three years old.
Growing up in the sixties music was on a record player or via transistor radio, often listening to Radio Luxembourg, and pirate radio stations. Then we finally got a pop station from the BBC in Radio 1 and the first record they played was "Flowers In The Rain" by The Move and the disc jockey was Tony Blackburn.
The only tape we had was reel to reel, and on TV "Thank Your Lucky Stars", "Top Of The Pops" and "Juke Box Jury" were places to check out the latest records, though they were not always acceptable.
This is my own potted history of music media:
The main picture shows my options for listening to music, which include radio, vinyl, cassette, CD and DVD/Blu-Ray. I also have digital copies that I listen to when walking on my phone, and I like to see artists playing live.
This is all music that I own and have paid for.
So What Is This About?
Streaming models are not good for artists, and I have said several times that companies like Spotify would have no problem if no new music was ever produced because they have such a huge catalogue of music to stream.
This is the ultimate musical convenience.
Very often people don't even choose what they want to hear, they just let their app decide for them. I am often told that I am behind the times because I listen to music in so many ways instead of Spotify. A few people have told me that they only hear music when they watch a TV series or advertisement. I get the feeling that these are the sort of people (and I know a lot of these) who would never read a book (or have one in their house) or watch a film that was in black and white or had subtitles.
Since the millennium the way the public treat music has changed dramatically. People like convenience and that is what streaming platforms give them, and once someone is on that path it is highly unlikely they will change because convenience is king.
I am as bad when I watch a film or TV program. I may have the DVD but if I can watch it on demand, without leaving my sofa, then I go for that option.
Anyway, carrying on from this playlist I have discovered a few more wonderful records in my collection and I will share them with you to close this piece.
The Godfathers - "Walking Talking Johnny Cash Blues"
While I know of The Godfathers I didn't know their music, and still don't, but this closed a magazine freebie and takes a beefed-up version of the Johnny Cash beat to make a truly great song reminiscent of "Hello, I'm Johnny Cash" by The Alabama 3 which you can listen to in this piece.
Echobelly - "Dark Therapy" from the album "On"
This is a song that is always with me but was on one of the compilations that came from the other room and the gorgeous vocals on this beauty still give me goosebumps today. If you listen to this it will stay with you too.
Bob Marley and the Wailers - "No Woman, No Cry" from "Live At The Lyceum"
I will close this short playlist with this truly great song. I remember trying very hard to source a copy when it was released. I got it, and a few weeks later it hit the top forty.
I pulled out my vinyl copy of the album for the main picture in this article and was shocked to find that this was not a Marley composition, it's only taken me forty-five years to find that out, although this is the story from Wikipedia, so it still may be a Marley song in reality.
Although Bob Marley is widely believed to have written the song, or at least the melody, songwriting credit was given to Vincent Ford, a friend of Marley's who ran a soup kitchen in Trenchtown, the ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica, where Marley grew up (he specifically mentions the Government Yards of Trenchtown, a public housing project). The royalty payments received by Ford ensured his efforts would continue.
Thank you for reading, I really appreciate your support, and would love to know how you listen to your music.
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Comments (8)
I do listen to music and nearly all the time. I can't imagine life without it. My husband is an exceptional musician and he jams a lot, so that's probably the #1 way I hear music. Second is streaming services set in whole house mode so my music follows everywhere I am in the house. Next is a service in my car. I'm not getting much out of it these days since I'm at home most of the time, but I love knowing it's there waiting for me for short trips. I have music through my Peloton as well. Then I have tons of old records, CDs, tapes including mix tapes, and on an on. I did have to let go of some of my collection about a decade ago because we ran of our room for everything. My husband is also a music enthusiast and he had music mags from his teens through his late 40s. He reads them from time to time, but now I think, it's mostly nostalgia. He sold a number of them to a reputable secondhand music store and the owner was blown away. Great to see others giving those gems a second life.
I don't use Spotify or any other streaming services. I download songs and listen to them. On my laptop I use Windows Media Player to listen. On my phone I use Samsung Music Player. That's about it hehehe
I share some of your perceptions, though I do listen to music on Spotify. However, I still buy records, Compact Discs. I feel it is only right to honour my favourite musicians in this way because a lot of effort goes into creating their music.
I listen to music like it's water and food. Some music moves me and some does not at all. I get introduced to music by my parents during childhood. The first song introduce I remember was from my mother to me, You are my Sunshine. School teaches music. Peers also influence my taste in music. Movie soundtrack is also introduce me to knew music as well.
Some good selections here and some interesting thoughts, too. I was born in the mid 50's, so I've run the whole gamut of listening options. I sold my vinyl collection long ago. I burned all of my casettes to CDs and still have those, but rarely get them out. These days, my entire, very eclectic collection is on a big external hard drive and I let it run when I'm at my desk. When I'm driving, I'll pop in a CD or just tune to a classic rock station. One of my prize possessions is a big reel- to reel tape of the family singing and playing at a party sometime in the 70's. I plan to have that digitized, since tape is prone to damage.
awesome; I also love music. Not too keen on TV unless it's the History or Discovery channels. However, I also love to read. There are times when I'm reading, I also have my radio on. Music definitely helps my old bones move.
I think these days I listen to most of my music in the car, which means good old-fashioned CDs (remember when CDs were the future, rather than the past?). Where possible, I buy discs in physical stores or at gigs. For more obscure stuff, I try to get them from the artists' websites. I have a CD player at home as well, but rarely have chance to use it undisturbed. After that, yes, I use online platforms. It's a good way of sourcing new bands and checking out people I've read about but not previously heard. And finally, I'm trying to get to more gigs. Not always easy because of work and family commitments, but hopefully it's broadening my horizons a bit and helping artists pay their bills.
Excellent recs; I can't wait to check some of these out and discover the Godfathers!