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Approach Vector: The Power of Portable Media |
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Dr. Samuel Says -
Rants
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Written by Dr. Samuel Centralia, Ph.D., D.D.S., Esq.
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Monday, 11 August 2008 |
Got into a long discussion the other day with my good friend Mark, about how MP3 and digital revolution is changing the experience of listening to music in a truly fundamental way. Mark, a rabid audiophile and the smartest music writer I know, is managing editor at Pitchforkmedia and gets paid to think about these kinds of things long and hard.
I think it's safe to say that no other gadget I've ever owned has
achieved the status of my iPod (and before that my Rio Forge), in terms
of its centrality to my day-to-day experience. Not even my cell phone.
For the last three years, 99.9 percent of all the music I listen to
comes in via the iPod (and the irreplaceable Skullcandy earphones.)
Most times I'm working in the lab, or walking, or commuting via public
transportation, I'm jacked into that iPod and listening to a randomized
sequence of new music -- most of it recommended by Mark. (I rely on him
heavily to sift through the noise and provide the crème de le crème of
new music.)
 What's interesting is how the very nature of how I experience music is
radically different now than it was 10 years ago. Back then, it was a
deliberate ritual to but a CD, unwrap it, put it in the home stereo,
and listen then and there to the entire album in sequence. Before that,
the media may have different -- cassettes, vinyl, even 8-tracks -- but
the ritual was essentially the same.
Now, with digital music players and the various ethically ambiguous
methods of acquiring play lists, I come at new music from a radically
different -- in fact, diametrically opposed -- vector.
First off, I rarely listen at home -- like everyone else, I take full
advantage of digital music's marvelous portability. With the old way of
doing things, I knew the artist, album and song I wanted; I'd buy it,
bring it home, then sit and listen to it.
Now I listen to the music first -- usually shuffled in at random from a
mix collection downloaded to my iPod library. Then, if I'm sufficiently
interested in the song, I'll spin the scroll wheel to find out the name
of the song and the artist. If I really, really like what I'm hearing
-- then I go buy the full CD.
I realize this is not breaking news, but it is interesting to make the
connection between my personal listening experience, and the spectacle
of watching the entire music industry wheel like a constellation around
it.
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