Loreleice's Virtual Writing Pad

Globally Melodic Tales

Last updated: 1 month, 1 week ago

Music is a highly expressive yet frequently commodified art form that focuses on sounds, moods, and messages. This audio-based medium has been a significant part of my life as a carefree adventurer.

My musical discovery began through local TV and CDs. When I was a young adventurer, I casually surfed across different channels until I found Myx. While I barely remembered the music videos (with majusculed lyrics at the bottom) on my country's equivalent to MTV, I somehow vibed with both local and foreign hits from 2000s.

Constantly hungry for aural exploration, I grabbed some CDs from my relatives' home collections so that I can listen to them on the computer. When I do not have any homework, I would play anything from famous artists (such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Britney Spears) to lesser-known ones (such as Fast Food Rockers and Coolbone).

Several years later, I made the switch to online streaming. Both YouTube and Spotify paved the way for a truly global voyage for music on demand. Because of the Internet, I got to discover a lot of artists and genres to enrich my musical tastes. While I found streaming to be an accessible way to explore more music, I also get concerned with its devaluation.

For me, music is both a blessing and a curse in the society. It lets anyone express their thoughts and feelings in audio form. It is a multifaceted medium that goes beyond recordings—it comes with music videos, live performances, artist interviews, and other supplementary content. Unfortunately, it often gets sidetracked with other things like fandom wars, cancel culture, and minuscule pay for artists. No matter what happens to music, it will always be a part of my artistic journey.

Exploring

Streaming services

Online streaming services are a convenient way to explore music. They offer a gigantic song catalogue with everything from the most famous hits to the most obscure deep cuts. They also contain questionable musical recreations and sloppy aural trash.

Some mainstream streaming services that I have used:

Although I have heard a few streaming services outside of the previous list, I have never joined the following:

Radio

The radio is a traditional way to discover music with little listener involvement. While it offers a limited number of stations in a certain location, it is usually rife in constant yapping and commercialization.

With the existence of Internet radio, there are a lot of traditional and online-only stations to choose from. Websites like FMSTREAM and Radio Garden allow listeners to browse a plethora of radio stations worldwide. Some of my recommendations for online radio stations include the following:

Collecting

While I find online streaming to be convenient for music discovery, I still keep a dedicated collection of CDs and digital audio files. Here are some places to discover and curate them:

My preferred audio file formats include the following:

Experiencing

Some tidbits about music: