The Evolution of Your Search for Music

Trollheart · 11-07-2017, 12:11 PM

What are you: a child of the internet, who's used to being able to download everything they want (usually for free) or someone who grew up buying records? If the latter, have you jumped on the bandwagon of the former?

My search for music began thus (some dates may have been guessed at to protect the terminally short of memory)

Early 1970s - Listened to music coming from my elder sister's room, occasionally told what she was listening to. Listened to the radio.

Late 1970s - Purchased my own ghetto blaster. Taped stuff off the radio, bought a few albums on tape, swapped a few with mates or schoolfriends. Got into listening to Radio Luxembourg at night.

Early 1980s - Working now, so able to buy my first stereo, and thus my first real albums (vinyl). Swapped with mates. Kind of stopped listening to the radio; MT USA (precursor to MTV here) started; heard music I had not heard before. Also bought my first Walkman portable cassette players. Bought lots of second-hand albums; trip into the city every weekend to come back with a bagful.

Late 1980s - Internet arrived. Audiogalaxy and Napster made it possible to download songs for free! Still bought albums, though now mostly on CD as I tried to replace my vinyl collection inasmuch as I could.

Early 1990s - Bought my first minidisc. Continued to use the internet as a source for music through the abovementioned until they were closed down. Continued to buy albums (CDs) in shops every so often.

Late 1990s - Bought albums less and less as music became more available on the internet.

Since then - Buy all/most of my music online now. Used to download but then ISPs through govt cut off access to torrenting sites. Got a subscription to Spotify, discovered YouTube. Never spent a penny at itunes - hate Apple with a passion.

**Janszoon** · 11-07-2017, 12:16 PM

Napster in the late 80s? How'd you manage that?

~~Cuthbert~~ · 11-07-2017, 12:22 PM

Late 90s, used to tape songs off the radio and use paper round money to build a half decent CD collection up. Gave up when I got burgled and lost most of them. Didn't have internet/start downloading music until 2008ish.

I buy the odd CD now and then. Past few years I have got a decent collection again and also some vinyls. I download for free. I will never pay money for downloads tbh. I rarely use YouTube, no Spotify account. I also hate Apple.

rubber soul · 11-07-2017, 12:42 PM

Okay, here was my evolution...

1960's: Even as a little boy, I was fascinated by radio. The radio always seemed to be on and I can remember songs from groups like the Young Rascals and the Turtles even before I entered grade school.

Early 1970s: I saw A Hard Day's Night on TV at age eight and instantly became a Beatles fan. Later the son of my my Mom's best friend, who was a few years older than me, would play albums by Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Alice Cooper, etc. Meanwhile, I'm beginning to like groups like the Raspberries and Mott the Hoople.

1973: Bought my first record albums; The Mamas and the Papas 20 Golden hits and The Early Beatles. I'm now eleven years old.

Mid 70s : Began saving my lunch money and started buying all the Beatles albums on Apple reissues. In between, I also bought Out of Our Heads by the Rolling Stones. Probably should have bought England's Newest Hitmakers instead. I also bought the Kinks' Kinkdom during this period.

1976-1977: We were living with Mom's best friend and I'm sharing the basement with her oldest son. He's the one that gets me into Bowie with The Man Who Sold the World

Late 70's: My teenage years and I'm the only person at school who's actually into New Wave. I'm into Costello especially during this period.

1979-1981: My record store period and about the time I became a serious record collector. I shop at a local record store where I'll work at later. It's there that I discover garage rock through the Pebbles' series. I'm also collecting all sorts of psychedelic music as well as British punk bands like The Clash, Jam, and Sex Pistols. Also discover garage groups like the Thirteenth Floor Elevators and the Seeds.

1980s: I continue to collect records like they're baseball cards. Now my tastes have expanded into college rock led by REM and Aztec Camera. I'm also into the Eurythmics, Smiths, and Midnight Oil. Meanwhile I also buy a good chunk of my former boss' record collection.

Late 80s: My first CDs as I convert my Beatles and Bowie collections though I keep the LPs.

1990s: The WHFS years (first half anyway): Still continuing to look for vintage albums and frequent a monthly record show where I pick up catalogues of groups like XTC and Talking Heads. New music that interests me includes Nirvana, PJ Harvey, and Radiohead.

2000s: Only sporadically into file sharing. Convert record collection into Mp3s and forced to sell LPs at a record show for economic reasons. Also discover the indie rock scene and into groups/artists like Wilco, the Flaming Lips, and Sparklehorse, also Elliott Smith.

Today: Still searching for music by way of YouTube and music subscription sites like Mog and now Spotify. If I can get my Mp3 maker to work again, I'll be able to expand my collection much like I did when I was using Mog.

Well, that was long

EDIT: I missed that I also really got into Folk and Blues during the 90s.

LoathsomePete · 11-07-2017, 12:59 PM

1990's: I don't know if I really bought any music on my own. I either listened to the CD's my mom and dad owned, listened to the radio, or was given music as a birthday or Christmas present.

2000: I'm pretty certain it was winter 2000 when my mum downloaded Napster and showed me how it worked, and I know I used it until it was shut down by the villainous Lars Ulrich.

2001-2005: With the collapse of Napster and accidentally infecting my PC with malware through other P2P programs like Morpheus and Kazaa, I pretty much stuck to buying CD's. My mum gifted me most of her CD's, which I would rip onto my computer, and then trade at a local used CD shop. Two CD's would net me 1 brand new one, and it was pretty common for me to go every Saturday. This was how I was introduced to bands like Killing Joke, Death, and Metallica. Sometimes I would skip lunch for the week and use the money my parents gave me to buy a new CD from some of the major electronic outlets like Circuit City, A&B Sound, and Future Shop (Pedantic Basterd is probably the only one who knows about the second one). I would also go to used CD shops that weren't really run by music nerds, but still had prices I could afford. I remember sometime around 2003/2004 using iTunes because I had won a bunch of free downloads from a contest Pepsi was doing where you could get free codes under soda bottle lids. If you held the bottle at the right angle you could see if you had a winner or not, and I just so happened to work in a small shop in my school that sold soda, so I would examine all the stock and hold back the winners so I could buy them myself.

2007: It was around this time that I learned what torrenting was, and started using that. I still sometimes use it, but as I don't really know what the good torrent sites are anymore I very rarely use it.

2014 to present day: Soulseek. It's basically the by-product of a mutual masturbation session between torrents and P2P programs.

~~MicShazam~~ · 11-07-2017, 01:09 PM

80's: Tapes with mixed songs from my parent's vinyl collection. Just all sorts of random pop and rock music.

End of the 80's/early 90's: I sat and recorded songs from the radio a lot. Many 60 and 90 minute tapes filled from front to back. Also got some copies of school mates Absolute Music CD's on tape and I think maybe some kind of Michael Jackson compilation.

Mid to late 90's: I think I only ever owned 1 non-copied cassete tape. The rest were copies of my sister's Nirvana and D-A-D at this point/copies of classmate's Offspring and Queen CD's.

Around 1998 to present: CD's, later joined by Youtube and Spotify for pretty much only for discovery and maybe listening to the odd artist that I can't find on CD. The amount of different artists I like has exploded over the last few years. I've become pretty good at finding new, interesting music, so the internet is pretty awesome as far as music goes.

Trollheart · 11-07-2017, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Napster in the late 80s? How'd you manage that?

I told you my memory was faulty!

Give an old man a break, huh?

@Rubber Soul: WHFS??

rubber soul · 11-07-2017, 01:21 PM

WHFS was the alternative rock station in the Baltimore-DC area. They were originally an album rock station out of DC but they moved to Annapolis in the 80s when I started listening to them. At first they played acts that might not be played by typical AOR radio such as Midnight Oil or the Smiths for example. New Order was big at the time too. By about 1990, it became more commercial becoming something of a top 40 modern rock station, but they still played some great music from groups like Depeche Mode (who I know you hate), Nirvana, REM, and U2. WHFS actually was well known nationally for their annual HFStivals they would sponsor around Baltimore and DC.

Anyway, it was a radio station

LoathsomePete · 11-07-2017, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor

with how easy this is to use I can't believe it's still up

Don't jinx it.

Trollheart · 11-07-2017, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rubber soul

WHFS was the alternative rock station in the Baltimore-DC area. They were originally an album rock station out of DC but they moved to Annapolis in the 80s when I started listening to them. At first they played acts that might not be played by typical AOR radio such as Midnight Oil or the Smiths for example. New Order was big at the time too. By about 1990, it became more commercial becoming something of a top 40 modern rock station, but they still played some great music from groups like Depeche Mode (who I know you hate), Nirvana, REM, and U2. WHFS actually was well known nationally for their annual HFStivals they would sponsor around Baltimore and DC.

Anyway, it was a radio station

Ah, I see. I thought I was missing out (as usual) on some cool new acronym.

11-07-2017, 12:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	The Evolution of Your Search for Music What are you: a child of the internet, who's used to being able to download everything they want (usually for free) or someone who grew up buying records? If the latter, have you jumped on the bandwagon of the former? My search for music began thus (some dates may have been guessed at to protect the terminally short of memory) Early 1970s - Listened to music coming from my elder sister's room, occasionally told what she was listening to. Listened to the radio. Late 1970s - Purchased my own ghetto blaster. Taped stuff off the radio, bought a few albums on tape, swapped a few with mates or schoolfriends. Got into listening to Radio Luxembourg at night. Early 1980s - Working now, so able to buy my first stereo, and thus my first real albums (vinyl). Swapped with mates. Kind of stopped listening to the radio; MT USA (precursor to MTV here) started; heard music I had not heard before. Also bought my first Walkman portable cassette players. Bought lots of second-hand albums; trip into the city every weekend to come back with a bagful. Late 1980s - Internet arrived. Audiogalaxy and Napster made it possible to download songs for free! Still bought albums, though now mostly on CD as I tried to replace my vinyl collection inasmuch as I could. Early 1990s - Bought my first minidisc. Continued to use the internet as a source for music through the abovementioned until they were closed down. Continued to buy albums (CDs) in shops every so often. Late 1990s - Bought albums less and less as music became more available on the internet. Since then - Buy all/most of my music online now. Used to download but then ISPs through govt cut off access to torrenting sites. Got a subscription to Spotify, discovered YouTube. Never spent a penny at itunes - hate Apple with a passion. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-07-2017, 12:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
Janszoon Mate, Spawn & Die Join Date: May 2007 Location: The Rapping Community Posts: 24,593	Napster in the late 80s? How'd you manage that? __________________ A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man Time & Place 25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die last.fm

11-07-2017, 12:59 PM	#5 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	1990's: I don't know if I really bought any music on my own. I either listened to the CD's my mom and dad owned, listened to the radio, or was given music as a birthday or Christmas present. 2000: I'm pretty certain it was winter 2000 when my mum downloaded Napster and showed me how it worked, and I know I used it until it was shut down by the villainous Lars Ulrich. 2001-2005: With the collapse of Napster and accidentally infecting my PC with malware through other P2P programs like Morpheus and Kazaa, I pretty much stuck to buying CD's. My mum gifted me most of her CD's, which I would rip onto my computer, and then trade at a local used CD shop. Two CD's would net me 1 brand new one, and it was pretty common for me to go every Saturday. This was how I was introduced to bands like Killing Joke, Death, and Metallica. Sometimes I would skip lunch for the week and use the money my parents gave me to buy a new CD from some of the major electronic outlets like Circuit City, A&B Sound, and Future Shop (Pedantic Basterd is probably the only one who knows about the second one). I would also go to used CD shops that weren't really run by music nerds, but still had prices I could afford. I remember sometime around 2003/2004 using iTunes because I had won a bunch of free downloads from a contest Pepsi was doing where you could get free codes under soda bottle lids. If you held the bottle at the right angle you could see if you had a winner or not, and I just so happened to work in a small shop in my school that sold soda, so I would examine all the stock and hold back the winners so I could buy them myself. 2007: It was around this time that I learned what torrenting was, and started using that. I still sometimes use it, but as I don't really know what the good torrent sites are anymore I very rarely use it. 2014 to present day: Soulseek. It's basically the by-product of a mutual masturbation session between torrents and P2P programs. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

11-07-2017, 12:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
~~Cuthbert~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Black Country Posts: 8,827	Late 90s, used to tape songs off the radio and use paper round money to build a half decent CD collection up. Gave up when I got burgled and lost most of them. Didn't have internet/start downloading music until 2008ish. I buy the odd CD now and then. Past few years I have got a decent collection again and also some vinyls. I download for free. I will never pay money for downloads tbh. I rarely use YouTube, no Spotify account. I also hate Apple.

11-07-2017, 01:09 PM	#6 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,636	80's: Tapes with mixed songs from my parent's vinyl collection. Just all sorts of random pop and rock music. End of the 80's/early 90's: I sat and recorded songs from the radio a lot. Many 60 and 90 minute tapes filled from front to back. Also got some copies of school mates Absolute Music CD's on tape and I think maybe some kind of Michael Jackson compilation. Mid to late 90's: I think I only ever owned 1 non-copied cassete tape. The rest were copies of my sister's Nirvana and D-A-D at this point/copies of classmate's Offspring and Queen CD's. Around 1998 to present: CD's, later joined by Youtube and Spotify for pretty much only for discovery and maybe listening to the odd artist that I can't find on CD. The amount of different artists I like has exploded over the last few years. I've become pretty good at finding new, interesting music, so the internet is pretty awesome as far as music goes.