LimeWire taught us more about music than Spotify ever will.
By @yaraee · Nostalgia
The algorithm has zero taste. Real music discovery was downloading a 12-minute song hoping it was the right version and not a virus.
The full story
Kids today will never know the thrill of downloading a song and having the file be named 'green_day_boulevard_of_broken_dreams_official_audio_HQ.mp3.exe'. That was a gamble. That was stakes. You were either about to get a banger or you were about to wipe your family's entire Dell computer. Spotify just feeds you stuff it knows you'll like. There's no adventure. LimeWire and Kazaa, that was the wild west. You'd find weird remixes, live versions, and terrible covers you'd never hear otherwise. That's how you got a real personality, not one curated by a tech company. The algorithm can't give you that.
How people voted
- Valid Take — 27% (20 votes)
- I’m Torn — 45% (34 votes)
- Bad Take — 28% (21 votes)
Readers say “I’m Torn” (45%) — 75 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@tessish — Are we just going to forget about all the viruses and mislabeled songs? My computer getting wiped for a fake version of 'Stacy's Mom' wasn't an adventure.
@gusliterally — a little bit of malware builds character
@ashforsure — 100%. Don't forget downloading a clean song and then your friend downloads the version with the DJ Kool intro over it and you have to burn him a new CD.
@owenlately — My personality was curated by a trojan horse and I'm awesome.
@forrealthough — The real discovery was going to a record store and talking to the guy behind the counter.
Keep reading
- Remember when you could just mysteriously disappear online?
- Remember trading snacks at the lunch table in school?
- I still think about the Scholastic Book Fair like it was the Met Gala.
- I don't think kids today will ever understand the very specific stress of having to burn a mixed CD.
- My kids don't understand the magic of a Saturday morning cartoon block.