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Bath Thoughts
🕑 Added 2025-03-31 21:20:28 +0000 UTCHello from the bath, where I do all of my good thinking. It’s normal and I’m normal.
Today I am thinking about the way music can become part of your life, and the ways that is being discouraged quietly by those who would seek to commodify music and continue to bloat our lives with more and more attention-stealing content.
When I was growing up (I’m 34 years old now ☹️) it was very common to rewatch films, relentlessly listen to the same rotation of albums, memorize them, share them between friends etc.
first came YouTube and then came Pandora, and then finally came Spotify. At first it was amazing that I could find similar music to the music I was so in love with. I found scores of new favorite bands and songs this way. Until it started to feel more like I was increasingly addicted to finding new songs every week, rarely being encouraged (or forced as it used to be) to sit with and consider the art I’d actually liked.
This was of course by design, as the more time you spent using these services, the more advertising money they made. Spotify operated at a loss for ages as a company while of course paying their CEO an insane amount of money 💰 and paying us artists a laughable fraction of anything remotely livable.
I recently cancelled my Spotify subscription and went back to either physically or digitally purchasing releases/singles/albums I wanted to listen to. The result has been that I am more deeply connected to the music I’m spending time with, by design. I’m hearing the intricacies of the music without that nagging pull of “ok what’s next” because the answer is NOTHING is next.
I sincerely urge each and every one of you to take an honest look at your media consumption habits privately, and evaluate whether or not this is the life you want to live. Or do you, like me, miss giving a shit about the art we wear as an identifier in the world? Or are you unwittingly treating these things like fast fashion?
In a time where our attention is our hottest commodity, how are you choosing to protect your individuality?
Just a thought (from the bath )
Comments
Gork
Good throuths ! I always listen to music on local storage on my phone, I've never had stream services because every time I've tried I was lost in this ocean of music... the thoughts you had about this habitude to do next next next track I really know that, I've some childhood friends, we have same taste about music and this last 2/3 years, every time we chill on my studio to listen music, between the two of them it's a competition of "oh wait you don't know this sound? and that one? oh wait I have to make you listen to a sound!" it's pissing me off, so now, computer off 😆 I buy tracks, and sometimes download it, something like every 3/4 mounth..
Hexic
First off good job on not dropping your phone into the bath. Secondly I totally agree that streaming and the constant availability of every song ever has made it feel less special and less engaging because you're just one click or button from the next track. It sort of incentives impulsively skipping something that maybe, had you been patient and stuck with, you might've enjoyed. Enjoying good art requires you to have some patience and depth of engagement, but I think streaming inherently encourages the opposite. I remember as a kid having music from a variety of places and as files on my computer. They were special to me because they felt rare; like if I lost the mp3 I may not be able to get it again. It felt like you made a connection to the artist because you cherished having a piece of their work, whereas now you only rent and truly own nothing (sadly this applies increasingly to fields beyond just music and art). Anyway, these days I try to be the change I want to see in the world and I try to make my music high-effort and with a long shelf life, since I feel like that's missing from a lot (but not all!) of music these days. I love talking about this stuff, take more baths! (this sounds like im calling you stinky lmao)
