The Evolution of Music

A quote from my favorite movie:: "I always tell the girls, never take it seriously. If ya never take it seriously, ya never get hurt. If ya never get hurt, ya always have fun, and if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends." - Kate Hudson (Penny Lane) - Almost Famous

It all started with the radio:: story telling and talking. Then it evolved into radio stations that played music. Not too incredibly long after that, vinyl records and album art came along and changed music forever...

It seems like not so long ago, that I was sitting on my bedroom floor as a teenager making mixed tapes on cassette. I remember listening to my favorite radio stations and waiting for that perfect song to come on, just so I could record it. The, I would press the 'Record' button as fast as I could, so that I wouldn't miss it. I didn't care if I caught a piece of a commercial, or a person talking - I just wanted that song! Then I would rewind the tape, push play, and write down all the lyrics inside of a notebook. I had to know exactly what they said, and what they meant. This was my version of teenage angst.

Not too long after the cassette tape, my friends and I moved on to burning each others CD's. After we had swapped all of each other's music, we then moved onto Napster. Which seemed so cool at the time! We would then sit at the computer and make the equivalent of mixed tapes - mixed CD's.

You may be asking yourself, why am I bringing this all up? Well my friends, it is because I have recently found all of this music! I vowed to myself then, and will keep that promise to myself, to NEVER get rid of ANY of my music! No matter how bad it was, or how "cheesy" it may have been. And it is for this very reason that I choose to do so - so that one day, I will find it all, press play, and go back in time! And my, oh my! How far back your memories can take you still amazes me, and always will! I have kept every mixed tape, and every burned CD from my past, as a memory for myself, and a laugh for Em in the future!

I have now fallen into the endless abyss of downloading my music. For me, it is only for the cheaper price. I so much enjoyed enjoy unwrapping a new CD, looking at the album art (and sometimes if you were lucky, the lyrics would already be printed), popping it into my CD player, and hitting the road! But that got so expensive, and we all now why: materials. Supply and demand, etc...The MP3 is just so much more cost effective for me! It is at least two or three dollars cheaper to download an album, than if you were to purchase it in the store. It is a total bummer for me! Granted, MP3's also make it so that you do not have find storage for all your music, which is also a plus.

And now that there are iPods, iPhones and MP3 players, I can play my ULTIMATE mix tape anytime, anywhere! The whole reason I have dove into this subject, is because I recently

read an article in 'Rolling Stone' about the record industry, and how badly it is hurting. Truthfully, it saddens me because I am a part of the reason it is in trouble.

I mean, the record industry is the MAIN reason we have music to begin with! Artists will never stop recording music, but the physical, hard copies of albums, will most likely continue to sky rocket in price, which means that albums & album art may some day become obsolete. Some people may not care, but I always will. Technology changes too quickly, and it is so hard to keep up with it...so instead of keeping up, we seem to evolve right along with it.

The good thing about all of this, is:: Music will never cease to exist! Rock On!