I was in our downtown over the weekend with my son, celebrating a great report card with a lunch at his favorite place to eat. Nearby, I noticed a store that I used to go to all the time. It is an eclectic used CD store. I used to browse through and almost always come out with something.
Not anymore, I realized, and although I felt the pull to head in there after lunch, I resisted. What would I do with a new CD? I only use an MP3 player for music in the house now. I felt sad about this and it reminded me of the transition from vinyl to CD (but I don’t miss 8-track days). But the reality is that I have a collection of discs that I never even look at. Their time has come and gone.
I did buy a new album this weekend by an artist named James Maddock.
That path I took was interesting: I was reading Paste Magazine, which has barely survived the tumult of the magazine world but remains a favorite of mine, and flipping through the music reviews. I saw an advertisement and read through some of the claims of “best album of 2009” and more. Hmmm. In the past, I would have written a note and put it in my wallet for the future. Maybe I would stumble upon the album. Maybe not.
Not now. Now, I jumped on my computer and headed over to LaLa, a music site, where I searched for James Maddock, and listened to a few cuts from the album that was getting such praise. Nice, I thought. I pulled out my iPod touch, connected to iTunes, downloaded the album and in about ten minutes, the house was alive with the music of James Maddock.
That is the digital revolution when it comes to music.
Peace (in the process),
Kevin