You will never convince me that Spotify playlists are better than a carefully crafted mix CD.
By @ineswelp · Nostalgia
My kids and their friends just queue up whatever the algorithm gives them. They're missing out on the art form of planning a tracklist, burning the disc, and decorating the jewel case.
The full story
I was driving my teenage daughter and her friends to the mall the other day, and the conversation turned to music. I was trying to explain the sheer effort and artistry that went into making a mix CD for someone back in the late 90s and early 2000s. It wasn't just throwing songs into a folder. It was a process. First, you had to acquire the music, which often meant waiting for a song to play on the radio to record it (and praying the DJ didn't talk over the intro), or spending hours downloading a single grainy MP3 from Napster or Kazaa on a dial-up connection that screamed at you. Then you had to plan the track order. This was critical. You needed a strong opener, a good flow, maybe a sadder song around track 7, and a memorable closer. they told a story. The transitions mattered! Then came the burning process. You'd load up your CD-R, which you could only write on once, so any mistake was fatal. You'd pray the buffer didn't run out and you didn't end up with a useless coaster. If it worked, you'd have this physical object. You'd break out the Sharpies and design the cover, maybe write out the whole tracklist by hand on the inside of the jewel case insert. Giving someone a mix CD was like giving them a piece of your soul for a few weeks. Now, my daughter just says, 'Hey Siri, play sad indie,' and the algorithm takes over. It's convenient, I get it. But it feels so impersonal, so disposable. There's no heart in it. It's just content, not a creation. I feel like a whole generation is missing out on that feeling of both making and receiving something so personal.
How people voted
- Facts — 27% (11 votes)
- Depends — 41% (17 votes)
- No Way — 32% (13 votes)
Readers are split: “Depends” leads with 41% — 41 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@masonkinda — Something tells me your daughter secretly thought it was a cool story but didn't want to admit it in front of her friends.
@jetty — You're just romanticizing the struggle because you miss feeling youthful.
@umay — Why not just make them a playlist on Spotify to show them how it's done?
@maray — ok grandpa.
@vinceactually — I would make them the most unhinged, chaotic mix CD imaginable and force them to listen to it with no skips.
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