From C.D.'s to iPods: A New Era

I have found that the best songs evoke memories. A song has the power to bring you back to a certain place and time. I can’t hear the song “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child without thinking of the Ainsworth Elementary School talent show. I was ten years old, and three of my friends and I choreographed a dance to “Survivor.” I remember countless practice sessions in one another’s basements spent perfecting our routine, arguing over outfits, inventing new dance moves, and performing on stage in front of the harsh, yellow stage lights.

Fourth grade was right around the time that I became interested in music. I used to love browsing the C.D.’s at the grocery store, mesmerized by the shiny covers. I can’t remember the first C.D. I bought, but I remember lying on floor for hours listening to my C.D.’s. I memorized every track and knew all of the lyrics. Each C.D. seemed to tell a story, and I was entranced. I went to a Brittany Spears concert with my mom in fourth grade and I knew all of the songs by heart. When iTunes first emerged in 2003, I still clung to my C.D.’s. In eighth grade, I finally joined the massed when I received a green iPod mini for my birthday. Once I had iTunes at my disposal, and the ability to purchase single songs off of an album, my C.D. buying slowly petered off. Before I knew it, it seemed like I only bought songs off of iTunes.

Of course, there have been exceptions. I still tend to buy movie soundtracks, since all of the songs go along with the narrative of the film. Last spring I purchased the soundtrack to Spring Awakening after seeing the musical. But, for the most part, I stick to iTunes and cherry pick my favorite songs off of albums. There are times when I want to go back to the days when I bought C.D.’s, but it seems so long ago. Most of my favorite C.D. stores in Portland have gone out of business, and buying a song off of my computer is much more convenient than going to a store to purchase the song. I know that technically one can buy an album off of iTunes, but if I’m going to buy all of the songs in an album, I want a tangible C.D. in my hand.

After three years, I upgraded to an iPod video. Now on top of being in color, my iPod was capable of playing movies.

Today, the New York Times ran an article on the decreasing sound quality of music since the rise in popularity of iTunes. In order to be able to download a song in thirty seconds, the quality of the song had to be lowered. No one was going to wait the extra hour for a song to download in order to have a higher quality sound. Moreover, the article points out that people don’t listen to music in the same way that they used to. People used to place a higher standard on music quality. There was a huge market for expensive stereos, and people expected high quality sound. Now, with the rise of iPods, music has taken on a different role.

“People used to sit and listen to music,” Mr. Fremer said, but the increased portability has altered the way people experience recorded music. “It was an activity. It is no longer consumed as an event that you pay attention to. Instead, music is often carried from place to place, played in the background while the consumer does something else — exercising, commuting or cooking dinner.”

Reading the article made me nostalgic for the days when I used to listen to C.D.’s and the whole purpose would be to do listen to the music. I wasn’t half listening to the song while doing homework or cleaning my room. No, I was solely focussing on the music.

Works Cited

Plambeck, Joseph. “In Mobile Age, Sound Quality Takes Step Back.” nytimes.com. The NY Times, 9 May 2010. Web. 9 May 2010.