Day 8 - iTunes

Twenty years ago, all the music I heard was on the radio. Our cable package didn't come with MTV and when VH1 was added to the basic cable package, my parents deleted it. Of course it didn't take me long to figure out that punching in the channel number magically found the channel again (deleted schmeleted), but it was hard to pay attention to any of the songs or the music videos when I had to keep a sharp ear out for footsteps approaching on the carpet so I could quickly press the previous channel button and pretend to be fascinated by Nickelodeon or The Weather Channel (I did the same with Blossom, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and the Simpsons...sorry Mom and Dad...). But the majority of the pop music I heard was on the radio. Power 105.7 was the station to listen to if you wanted to know who or what was cool. I would hear songs on the radio and then, usually based on my fondness for one song, buy the tape (or CD). To be honest and destroy my rebel status, all of the albums I bought up through my freshman year of college were Christian (I did and still do know every word to the first 4 DC Talk albums), and I think my first non-Christian CD was Limp Bizkit (go figure, right?).

But all too often, after buying an entire album, which usually cost $15 for the CD, I'd find out that the song they played on the radio was the only good song on the CD! Sometimes the radio release would be of a totally different style than the rest of the CD and you would get tricked into buying the CD thinking it was hard rock when it ended up being almost all ballads or something! Yuck! This is why I'm thankful for iTunes. Now, when I hear a song I like, I can go to the iTunes store and listen to excerpts from the rest of the album. If I like it, I can buy the album for cheaper than I could in the store. If I don't like any of the other songs, I can just buy the song. Amazing, isn't it? It's like a veritable buffet of music!

And who can forget the almighty mix tapes? Not having very many love interests in the 80's or 90's (or 2000's...), I made mix tapes for myself and used them as workout music. I used to do circuit training in my bedroom a few times a week. Thank goodness I was a girl, or that place would have stunk! I created a mix tape to go with my workout with songs from the radio. It took a lot of time and attention to find the right songs, but back then they used to announce the songs before they played them. I was the master of timing when it came to recording songs off the radio. But now, making a mix tape is no big deal! Just download your favorite songs, put them in whatever order you want and save them as a playlist or burn them to a CD.
The whole thing can be done in under 5 minutes (granted it's not a mix tape, it's really a mix CD, but same diff).

Plus, iTunes has exposed me to all sorts of crazy music that I never would have listened to before! The Genius function is just that, the store is always recommending music it thinks I'll like, I subscribe to podcasts that I listen to while I run (when I run... it's cold outside and my motivation has gone into hibernation). I've even rented a few movies! For the convenience it's brought into my life, the exposure it's given to under-appreciated artists and the gift cards which make perfect gifts for pretty much everyone, I am thankful for iTunes.

Need I say it again? They're certainly not paying me for this.