For my 14th birthday, I received a blue seventh-generation iPod Nano with a touch screen and 16 gigabytes of storage.
It was one of the final devices Apple developed with the primary function of playing music, and all-in-one cellphones and subscriptions were on the rise.
Eventually I had succumbed to the convenience of modern services; why would I ever want to take the effort of putting a DVD into a player to watch a movie when I can do the same thing on my phone with the swipe of my finger?
My iPod was shelved, and any time I wanted to listen to music, I would just open Spotify on my phone.
Eventually, I grew a distaste for their services.
Having to pay a monthly subscription fee to gain access to what I think should be entry-level features is anti-consumer, especially following recent price increases to their plans.
Currently, an individual premium plan costs $12.69 plus tax, which increased from $10.99 in October 2024.
Premium benefits include offline listening; otherwise a Wi-Fi connection is needed, no ads in between songs, songs can be skipped at free will and so on.
Spotify also has regional licensing; certain songs are only available in certain parts of the world.
I truly believe that the amount of content one can access today is worth the headache of modern streaming services, although I don’t excuse these organizations from trying to make a cent off any basic feature they can.
An online space allows artists to express themselves and gives them a global platform to share their efforts, locking basic access behind a paywall feels redundant.
Spotify does play locally downloaded MP3 files, although my files downloaded from third-party sources didn’t work.
Everybody loves music, especially me.
I was sad there was no straightforward way to listen to music, and as a result, I sort of stopped listening to music altogether.
I stopped playing instruments, I wasn’t listening to anything new coming out, and music wasn’t one of my hobbies anymore.
Though it wasn’t long until I was serenaded again, there is just something about music that is so addictive to listen to.
I dug up my iPod Nano after it lay dormant for years and with a music library of a bygone era, I was pleasantly surprised with the hardware I was presented.
When it was released, Apple said this generation of Nano was the thinnest iPod ever. It’s quite extraordinary how many features are packed into a device roughly 5mm thick, and it is the size of two postage stamps placed next to each other.
No Wi-Fi connection meant a physical connection to a computer was needed to put music onto the iPod, as is true for most music players.
Files ripped from my CD collection were perfect for this.
Putting my CD collection onto my iPod revealed a whole new way of listening to and acquiring music.
First off, purchasing used CDs in general is much cheaper than a Spotify subscription.
Most Value Villages, for example, have their CDs priced at a few bucks, and it’s not uncommon to find a CD that has never been opened.
CDs are also quite hardy; unlike vinyl, an optical disc can operate mostly unaffected by scratches and scuffs.
Although buying a CD is a more traditional way of listening to music, most discs are singular albums which means there is less overall content compared to the search results of Spotify.
However, a key difference is permanence.
I can actually feel and hold a CD. I own personal rights to the album, which means I can distribute it to my own devices as much as I want.
No regional licensing, I don’t lose access to the music if I don’t give it more money the following month, and I can listen to my music wherever and whenever I want.
Being forced to listen to an album front-to-back is more limiting, though, as my physical library of music grew, so did my selection.
Toronto is an amazing city to start a music collection; its diverse population results in a variety of music that makes its way into thrift stores.
The CD and the iPod are separate entities, once the music was moved onto the iPod it’s back to business as usual for my Daft Punk Homework CD.
When the CD was hot, technology had to change around it, and as a result there are countless household items compatible with the format.
Nearly every model of DVD and Blu-ray player works with CD, and video game consoles as early as the first PlayStation, also work.
Although auto manufacturers are ditching the CD player in their newer models, plenty of cars can play CDs.
Reliability and permanence of physical media truly transcend the convenience of modern streaming services in my opinion.
I want to enjoy a simple listening experience with no strings attached, and picking up an MP3 player with some CD albums is the best way to start.
