digital era(ta)

We all want instant gratification online, and aren’t we all online?
Whether it’s a film, a song, a plastic shoe that smells like pannacotta- I want it now.
When it came to music the destination used to be clear, for at least three years now – a little site called last.fm. But here’s an announcement from them regarding changes starting November:

So What’s Changing at Last.fm?

The following subscriber-only radio stations will no longer be available:

Loved Tracks Radio: streaming your list of loved tracks
Playlists: streaming a list of tracks you’ve chosen for a playlist
Personal Tag Radio: streaming a list of artists, albums or tracks that you have tagged

instant_gratification__by_johunit — by ~johunit

That’s a lot of changes. At least you can a keep a list of all the tracks you favourited. Man, Apple catches on fast, NOT. Will newly-launched Ping save the day? I dun’ tink so, and neither do most people. It’s true, I rarely use iTunes anymore either, VLC does a fantastic job of just playing what I need when I need it. I have slight ADD and an obsessive compulsive nature that tries to organize and sort through music, make playlists that remember for me every song I associate with any mood/place/time of day/ice cream flavours. So basically my digital music brain crutches. I considered it a victory when I narrowed down the number of the genres to 37. But let me just state my epiphany: as if it’s just files. I actually began to look at invaluable efforts coming from artists as just stuff ending with .mp3 or .m4a.

In VLC I don’t sort through anything. I just play something when I feel like it. Isn’t that the point? I don’t download much music anymore. I am learning to love what I already have. So yes, I have freed myself from the cycle of thwarting the very experience of listening to music. OK, when I need to update my iPod or something with new songs, I hear the old cravings of a compulsive maniac starting to rumble.

As for streaming online, I go to Grooveshark when I have a craving [more options over at lifehacker]. I listen to several radio shows and podcasts to keep myself up to date. And sometimes I just enjoy the silence.