I’m a person who does not subscribe to streaming music services. I tried Spotify for a while and I was on Apple Music when it first came out but the thing was that I realized after a couple years that I hadn’t really absorbed any new music when I was listening to everything on streaming the same way I would when I was buying albums. So, I gave up on streaming and started buying albums again.
My challenge to myself was to actually spend $10 a month (the cost of the Apple Music subscription) on buying music. I often don’t manage to do this. It’s hard. It involves making choices and commitments. It means seeking out channels to be exposed to new music from. It means figuring out how to buy something when you’ve found something you like.
I have a few channels that are my go-tos for finding new music. My favorite, and the easiest, is Bandcamp’s Bandcamp Weekly audio program. This is not quite a podcast because it is very much integrated into the Bandcamp app for iPhone, which is the only place I know of that you can play it from. If you have an Apple Silicon Mac, you can also run the iPhone app on your Mac and play it there. I have not figured out a way to access the show from Bandcamp’s website. It’s a great show with a wide variety of music. It’s usually about two hours long, and it features a charming host in Bandcamp Chief Curator Andrew Jervis or frequent guest hosts, interviews with musicians, and a good mix of new and old music. You also get a playlist in the app and can easily tap the little heart icon when there is a song playing you’d like to go back to. The heart makes the song show up in your Bandcamp wishlist. I just wish there were Siri integration so I could heart a song while driving.
I also listen to NPR’s All Songs Considered, I almost always listen to their New Music Friday show. I love the NPR staff who are involved in the show, and as the title suggests they get into a wide variety of different kinds of music, playing entire tracks where they have the rights, and playing clips or only mentioning the release when they don’t. It’s not as easy to go from hearing a track to buying an album, though, and they often play music that has not even been released yet, so you have to remember a week later to see if the album is available to buy anywhere. This is one of the podcasts that I’ve been listening to for the longest. I literally used to load it onto an iPod and listen to it on the bus.
I read the New Yorker’s music reviews sometimes but not often. Early in the pandemic they reviewed an album by DJ Harvey, Life at Rumors, that DJ Harvey was selling for $2 on Bandcamp in what was promoted as an effort to cheer everyone up and that album got played every day in this house for probably the next year. It’s pretty hit or miss, though, and honestly I find the New Yorker incredibly pretentious and off putting. Their cartoons are not funny and I dare you to argue that I just don’t get them.
As for buying music; I get most of what I buy from Bandcamp. I’ve never heard anything about about how they treat artists, and in fact they still do Bandcamp Fridays every now and then (next is Dec 1) when Bandcamp doesn’t take a cut from the sale and all proceeds go to the artist. They also make it easy, and I really really how you can very often listen to all the music on an album before you buy it. I’m currently listening to Popsicle Obstacle by Islandman for the second time and am very likely going to purchase the digital album. Some artist limit what tracks you can listen to, some don’t let you listen to any, but I’m under the impression that is all up to the artist, and I also think that is great. You can often get CDs or Vinyl in addition to digital albums, and if you buy something physical you get the digital version right away. Digital albums can be downloaded in your choice of format. I usually choose ALAC because I am a fool and still use the Music App on iPhone and Mac as my music player. You can also always access music you have purchased through Bandcamp’s website or their app and stream or re-download.
Sometimes I will buy from Amazon. Especially in the case where a CD costs less than a digital album. I’ll just rip the CD and put the disc on a shelf. It used to be that Amazon would offer credits for digital purchases if you selected slower shipping rates and I’d always do that when I didn’t need fast shipping and cash those credits in on MP3s. I don’t see that option much anymore. I’ll also buy from Amazon if something I want isn’t on Bandcamp.
I used to buy all my music from the iTunes Music Store, but I feel betrayed by Apple because the Music App is less a Music Player like iTunes used to be and more an Apple Music streaming service app that will also play music from your local library, and it’s not as good of an experience as it used to be. I want to have an archive of what I’ve collected outside of my Music App Library and there’s a little more friction doing that for something that is bought in the iTunes Store.
I just bought Popsicle Obstacle and am downloading the 406.4MB ALAC now. I first a track from that EP on Bandcamp Radio. I don’t quite know how to describe it. Kind of dancy electronica with sparse vocals. Energetic and modern feeling without being over the top. Kind of a DJ Harvey or Röyksopp vibe. I also bought Acts of Light by Hilary Woods this week. I heard a track from that album on All Songs Considered. Very dark and moody instrumentals. Makes me think of Sun O)))) or Stars of the Lid, but it’s cellos and shit.
This was another get and edit photos week in the studio. This weeks updated paintings are:
That’s all for this week. Everyone is still some level of sick. I can’t wait until we’re out of daycare and can go more than two weeks without someone having a fever. Hey if you read all this and you have hot tips for good ways to discover, buy, or listen to music, I’d love it if you shared in a comment below! Thank you, see you next week!