Listening to music today differs significantly from when I was growing up, very much thanks to the leaps and bounds of technology.
Then
Growing up, I used to spend hours in my room listening to music on my stereo. There were a couple of us that invested heavily in stereo systems and record collections. We stayed on top of new releases from our favourite artists and we looked for new ones to add to our collections.
We had the tape deck on constantly when cruising in our cars. Those were the days of cheap gas, infinite laps on the strip and crop inspection trips into the country. We suffered through the 8 track phase and embraced the cassette revolution. We did not not buy prerecorded cassettes, rather we made our own and had parties while we did so.
Later on, when I had my own place, I watched a lot of MuchMusic (Canada) videos on the weekend while recovering from self inflicted wounds. The stereo also got considerable play.
Now
I listen to music while I’m on the computer and while driving. What I’m listening to in the car depends on my passengers. If alone, I tend to listen to Sirius (Classic Vinyl, Classic Rewind, Underground Garage, 1st Wave, the ’80’s) or playlists from my phone. On the computer, it will be a mix of my playlists and streaming sites.
We have a radio on in the background in our living room, and listen to an eclectic mix of CBC Radio 2 and CKUA.
If we’re having company over, we’ll have a soft mix on in the background as conversation is key. Depending on who’s over, we may eventually get into deep dives into the realms of “remember this?”, “guess who this is?”, “ think you’ve heard something crazy? Try this!”. If we’re outside on the deck, we’ll have a summer themed playlist on.
I’m interested in your experiences and how similar or different they were or are now.