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the grieving for Google Music has ended
I nearly stopped listening to music when Google Music died and its parent Alphabet tried to make me use YouTube Music instead. I enjoyed that Google Music algorithm so fucking much. I don't know that I'll ever enjoy another streaming music service as much as I enjoyed that one. YouTube Music sucked, I quit.
But I'm starting to crawl back out of my soundproof cave. This evening I've been listening to music on Spotify, starting to train them in what kinds of music I like. More like, reminding myself of what kinds of music I like. I haven't listened to music during a Bug Night in a while now, but I think this weekend I'll get back into listening to music.
Streaming services like Spotify pay a fraction of a penny per songplay for the rights to play their tens of millions of songs. Many critics say this is not enough cash to live on for all but the most popular artists. So when I find an artist I like, I usually buy their album(s), like I always have, since I was a kid. I've bought nine albums already in 2021, which makes it sound like I was lying about grieving inside a soundproof cave and not listening to music much, that's like an album per week. But I was probably buying at least twice that amount of music back during the Google Music days, a couple or three albums per weekend. Yeah, I see lots of weekends before October 2020 when I bought two or three albums.
Buying an album is my way of "tipping" an artist that I've enjoyed on the streaming service. I didn't buy all my music via Apple, I bought a bunch via BandCamp or places like that. I paid one artist $200 for a "pay what you want" album because I liked it so much. Add that to what I spent on Apple and we're probably up to $1,000/year I spend buying music now.
But I usually only listen to music when I'm not doing anything else. I can't work while listening to music. I can't read while listening to music. Sometimes I drive to music, but I also listen to podcasts and audiobooks while driving. Mainly I listen to music when I'm by myself and have nothing else to do, and then I focus on it.
Heh, K knows when I'm listening to music because I usually serial text him for hours about it, telling him about all the stuff I'm listening to. Lately when I've listened to music, it's all old stuff we've both heard before. But I want to get back into finding new music. Like that Billy Bao album I found, totally accidentally. Google Music helped me to find great music I'd never heard before, accidentally. I'm not sure whether Spotify can do that, but I'll give it a try, while also cruising SoundCloud and MixCloud and BandCamp.
The grieving is over. I want to enjoy music again.
But I'm starting to crawl back out of my soundproof cave. This evening I've been listening to music on Spotify, starting to train them in what kinds of music I like. More like, reminding myself of what kinds of music I like. I haven't listened to music during a Bug Night in a while now, but I think this weekend I'll get back into listening to music.
Streaming services like Spotify pay a fraction of a penny per songplay for the rights to play their tens of millions of songs. Many critics say this is not enough cash to live on for all but the most popular artists. So when I find an artist I like, I usually buy their album(s), like I always have, since I was a kid. I've bought nine albums already in 2021, which makes it sound like I was lying about grieving inside a soundproof cave and not listening to music much, that's like an album per week. But I was probably buying at least twice that amount of music back during the Google Music days, a couple or three albums per weekend. Yeah, I see lots of weekends before October 2020 when I bought two or three albums.
Buying an album is my way of "tipping" an artist that I've enjoyed on the streaming service. I didn't buy all my music via Apple, I bought a bunch via BandCamp or places like that. I paid one artist $200 for a "pay what you want" album because I liked it so much. Add that to what I spent on Apple and we're probably up to $1,000/year I spend buying music now.
But I usually only listen to music when I'm not doing anything else. I can't work while listening to music. I can't read while listening to music. Sometimes I drive to music, but I also listen to podcasts and audiobooks while driving. Mainly I listen to music when I'm by myself and have nothing else to do, and then I focus on it.
Heh, K knows when I'm listening to music because I usually serial text him for hours about it, telling him about all the stuff I'm listening to. Lately when I've listened to music, it's all old stuff we've both heard before. But I want to get back into finding new music. Like that Billy Bao album I found, totally accidentally. Google Music helped me to find great music I'd never heard before, accidentally. I'm not sure whether Spotify can do that, but I'll give it a try, while also cruising SoundCloud and MixCloud and BandCamp.
The grieving is over. I want to enjoy music again.