Now don’t get me wrong when reading this bit. I fully appreciate getting the free music sent to us for review. I love music as much as I ever have, and never see that diminishing in my life. I love hearing those new artists that really get me excited, or an older group that I haven’t yet explored that makes me want to explore their entire catalog. But I’ll be damned if I just can’t get excited or be excited or thrill at all to actually going into a music section of a store shopping for music. What happened?

I remember growing up and feeding my addiction with my weekly allowance and just really digging it. And finding a new music store was always a thrill, too. Going into used vinyl shops was fun, and generally just being a music consumer in the store and purchasing the product was satisfying. Nowadays, though, I can’t care less if I go music shopping in a brick and mortar store. It probably has everything to do with the Internet and the ease of being able to basically find nearly anything at anytime for a price (or not). I remember when I lived in TN making a road trip out to Nashville every now and then to go to the Tower Records there and just spending hours looking around. Now it’s all down to a simple search and mouse click and it’s all mine.

My iPod probably has a lot to do with the change as well. Hauling around a bunch of CDs in my car to enjoy wasn’t something so far in my past. I used to dig making new mix CDs and listening to them through again and again much like back in the mix tape days. But now, having given myself fully to the thrills of my iPod, I can hardly imagine taking a CD wallet around and all thoise mix discs. It seems that all my previous excitement has been replaced by mere convenience. That’s not really a bad thing at all. I welcome change and the freedom the new technology gives me. I’ve alwats liked the latest stereo gadgets. Shit, I even believed in the MiniDisc format there briefly.

But in addition to technology changing things…maybe it’s also just that there really aren’t music stores themselves anymore. Big box stores changed a lot of that with the Internet. It’s a shame in a way, but then again, to me it isn’t at the same time as I do love that push button convenience of the modern world. And I suppose the act of collecting the music itself has filled that void of going to the store and basking in the glow of the racks of releases. Someday, though, when the format is finally kaput, those CDs are going to seem as imposing as all those damn tapes I don’t listen to anymore. Someone bring a shovel or two.