Theres something not a lot of people seem to know about music: it wasnt meant to be listened to through a one-inch cell phone speaker. No wonder so much modern music is commercialised and disposable: that's exactly how so many of the people who consume it treat it. Even though its easier now to make a hi-fi recording than its ever been, theres the distinct possibility of an immaculately produced song being compressed so it comfortably fits on an iPhone, where it will be docked for convenient listening on the go while working out, shopping, hanging out by the pool, or even at a party. The time of music being an activity unto itself, with the listener completely absorbed and free from distraction, has largely passed. Everyone has the right to experience music in their own way. But theres something sorely wrong with a person never experiencing live music or the full breadth of an important recording on a nice sound system. Albums like Dark Side of the Moon ought to be played in schools, with kids who talk during it receiving a detention, rather than everyone passively looking it up on YouTube where there's a scroll bar to skip the slow parts. Going from big records and booming speakers to MP3s and a laptop is like going from a wedding cake to a Pop-Tart.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
