It was great to be able to search for some things, spot someone with similar interests, and then browse the other stuff that they had to offer. I discovered a ton of good stuff this way.
It was usually a low-bitrate MP3 (or, far worse: An mp3 that someone callously "improved" by running it through BladeEnc at 192Kbps), and it would normally download at a rate far slower than realtime. This left a lot to be desired, but it was plenty good-enough for finding new-to-me music that would probably never have any airplay.
And then I'd gather up some dollars and head over to the local music shop. If it was on the shelf, I'd buy it. (And if it wasn't, they'd cheerfully order it -- usually it'd be there in a few days, but sometimes it was a month or two if it was from overseas.)
Nowadays, like many, I don't buy a ton of music. I still have MP3s, and I've got quite a selection of CDs...and I do enjoy having them and occasionally listening to them. But usually, it's just Spotify for me and has been for over a decade now.
It was great to be able to search for some things, spot someone with similar interests, and then browse the other stuff that they had to offer. I discovered a ton of good stuff this way.
It was usually a low-bitrate MP3 (or, far worse: An mp3 that someone callously "improved" by running it through BladeEnc at 192Kbps), and it would normally download at a rate far slower than realtime. This left a lot to be desired, but it was plenty good-enough for finding new-to-me music that would probably never have any airplay.
And then I'd gather up some dollars and head over to the local music shop. If it was on the shelf, I'd buy it. (And if it wasn't, they'd cheerfully order it -- usually it'd be there in a few days, but sometimes it was a month or two if it was from overseas.)
Nowadays, like many, I don't buy a ton of music. I still have MP3s, and I've got quite a selection of CDs...and I do enjoy having them and occasionally listening to them. But usually, it's just Spotify for me and has been for over a decade now.