Music, the Kind You Buy

by Nitesh Arora


There's not a huge need to buy music right now. Go on Spotify and stream nearly anything for free, go on YouTube to listen to the songs that aren't on spotify, & pirate things that are good enough for you to want a copy. Wait, no, nobody actually pirates music, it's illegal! Sure. I think there's a more of a "nobody buys music, it's all free somewhere" mentality. 

One of my friends, George, has stopped buying music and using iTunes. Instead, he subscribes to Spotify. I guess it makes sense, save the money that you would use to own albums so that you can listen to whatever you want. 

I fall in the camp that does buy music. Kind of. I tend to try out music for free like on Spotify so I can try and find new music or my friends can send me suggestions. But, when I listen to something enough or is the type of music I can see myself enjoying in the future, I buy it. I tend to be careful with these purchases so I don't clutter my list. I may go months at a time without buying anything. Then, I'll find something or an artist I enjoy has an album and I buy ​it. Depending on the season, I'll find a few things in a row. Great for my ears, bad for my wallet.

I like a copy of the music I love so that I can have it on my devices as I like or even port it to an external drive. Spotify is ​a great service. I enjoy using it. When it comes to music I really know I love (or will binge listen to), I'd rather buy the album than pay for subscribe to Spotify. For now.