Music forgottten due to changes in the technology of delivery?

[Ducatista47]

This article from September 2019 in Esquire is depressing in many respects, not the least being the dreadful musical taste of the author when he was thirteen. Only one musician he cites as forgotten - KT Tunstall - would ever be missed by me if indeed she is.

But the reason I post this is to inquire if the thesis of the piece seems to have any historical validity or not. I have seldom used my iPods for anything but streaming and listening to the same music downloaded for offline consumption, in other words not as the sole repository for purchased songs. And I have hardly ever been a creator of mixtapes, at least not since the cassette days. So I would not know.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/a-decade-of-music-is-lost-on-your-ipod-these-are-the-deleted-years-now-let-us-praise-them

[Robh3606]

Hello Clark

Depends on your listening habits and your addiction to media. Any music I purchased in that time period I have a CD. I like physical media and even if it's digital download I burn a CD and drop it into a case. Use Bandcamp for new music and older.

My son as an example only streams and doesn't own media so yes for the younger group I can see that.

I used to make mix tapes all the time using cassette's but now I can just use shuffle play on the Ipod.

Maybe he is right for most users. It is out there just have to look.

https://thedetroitcobras.bandcamp.com/

Rob :)

[Mr. Widget]

I think the writer is pretty spot on... and I would suggest that the list should include lesser know artists of other eras as well.

Most people I meet professionally or personally prefer convenience over quality. If they can ask Alexa, Google or Siri to play mid-fi music of dubious origin they are happy. They are not willing to dust off a CD jewel case or load a drawer much less spin a black vinyl disc. Many have a dozen records and a turntable as objet d'art but I doubt they spin often.

For these folks, if Spotify doesn't have the song the music doesn't exist... and playing albums is really only for dinosaurs like us. There will always be collectors and archivists who save and savor the obscure in all media, but in practical terms if the market is tiny the material will be mostly lost.


Widget

[BMWCCA]

I love my iPod Classic, but it's loaded from the physical media that I already own and carried in the iPod at Apple Lossless level. I like the iPod so much that when Apple discontinued it I bought the only two I could find in stores the next day—in case mine ever failed. I still have both today in sealed unopened boxes depreciating daily from a high value when they were discontinued of over $600 on Ebay to now new/sealed completed sales ranging from around $250 to the occasional . . . wow! Over $1000. Maybe I spoke too soon. Somebody must still love them.

Never sold any of my LPs, ever. Or CDs. Though I admit to spinning an LP about as often as I get to play golf . . . maybe once per year.

[Ducatista47]

I love my iPod Classic, but it's loaded from the physical media that I already own and carried in the iPod at Apple Lossless level. I like the iPod so much that when Apple discontinued it I bought the only two I could find in stores the next day—in case mine ever failed. I still have both today in sealed unopened boxes depreciating daily from a high value when they were discontinued of over $600 on Ebay to now new/sealed completed sales ranging from around $250 to the occasional . . . wow! Over $1000. Maybe I spoke too soon. Somebody must still love them.

Never sold any of my LPs, ever. Or CDs. Though I admit to spinning an LP about as often as I get to play golf . . . maybe once per year.

I have two Touch Gen 4s but they got too old to work with current streaming services at full functionality. (You know, Apple's deliberate obsolescence. "Update the software again? No, buy the new one." ) 2019 was the newest iteration when I purchased it and I use it to stream every day. It's a great unit; I recommend it for $200.

Both of the biggest vinyl True Believers I know eventually stopped using it. Seawolf (RIP) because Pandora was so much easier, and Dave because he finally agreed with me that it does not sound very good, being unlistenable on decent or better headphones.

The only shortcoming of streaming I encounter is some of my favorite labels not being available. MA Recordings, Todd Garfinkle's outfit, and Provocateur from the UK (Colin Townes' label) kept me buying CDs. I have a ton from each. ECM, the elephant in the room, shows up sometimes. I know Amazon carries some of it at least.

[Fritz The Cat]

What the heck! Look at those data mediums: more than thousand years old and still going strong. Look here: Stiftsbibliothek St. Gallen Switzerland. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stiftsbibliothek_St._Gallen
Shouldn't we accept that analogue technology will last longer? But also Vinyl and CDs are not made for eternity. Kommt nach St. Gallen und schaut Euch das UNESCO-Weltkulturerbe an. Wir denken viel zu kurzfristig, wir kleinen Würmchen! Greetings from Switzerland.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/BibliothekSG.jpg