The Internet is an increasingly important technology that reaches into many aspects of our lives. For example, we use the Internet to find new information, listen to the latest new songs, discover new trends, get work done, study for tests, and express our feelings. In fact, digital technology and the Internet have become a very important part of how we learn, work, and interact with others. Using the technology gets our cognition going. One category of digital technology that I believe is very important is entertainment. Some of the entertainment technologies that we enjoy every day include: listening to music, playing video games, communicating over social media, laughing at comedy videos, or chilling with streaming video from Netflix. Digital entertainment technology makes it possible for people to listen to music, text, chat, play games, and watch videos almost anywhere: on the bus, on the train, in class, or at home. Because there are many types of digital entertainment, I will focus on digital music and discuss how two-forms of digital music leave different impressions on our memory. In this essay, I argue that listening to purchased digital music, such as MP3s or MP4s from iTunes, has a different effect on our memory than listening to music from a streaming service, such as, Pandora, or Apple Music, because these technologies provide a different listening experience. In this essay, I will state how listening to purchased music on iTunes is a better listening experience, streaming services such a Spotify is a better experience than listening to purchased music, purchased music is better because you are able to listen to music in the order you want, and how streaming services can easily replace digital downloads.
For example, listening to purchased music on iTunes is a better listening experience, because you do not have to worry about not having unproductive Wi-Fi connection that streaming services are dependent upon. For some people who are unsure what a streaming service is, a streaming service is a tool for transferring data so that it can be processed to the internet. It enables people to listen to some of their favorite music without having to go buy an entire album or song. Streaming services are very popular and are often used for uploading videos, music and other types of live/digital entertainment. When music is being put on a streaming service, the media is put onto the computer so the file can be decoded. Once the file is completely decoded it is then uploaded to the streaming service where it can be heard from millions of people around the world. People who purchase MP3s songs can be accessible through their cellular devices. We can create playlist’s, change the songs as much as we want, and this will enhance the activities that are controlled by our brain.
In my opinion I feel that listening to purchased music is better because it has good quality, you do not have to worry about having Wi-Fi, once purchased it yours forever, and you can listen to the artist it as many times as you want. When listening to purchased music there are several reasons such as its various listening affect, the clarity is much more superior, and there are unlimited genres to choose from. When personally listening to music I look to hear the quality. Music that has a good quality is finer than listening to music that is being streamed because purchased music such as mp3s/mp4s have a much more clear sound. There are no background mistunes and no different voice tunings. I also think that having to purchased music with a finer quality is more better because if you listen to a song on a radio you can purchase that song and have it forever. You can listen to the song as many times as you want and not worry about having to wait for that specific song to come on the radio. With purchased music you can skip songs, create playlists with songs that you like to hear and you can play the songs over and over multiple times as you want. On the other hand I feel that listening to music that is on a streaming service is better because it is free and you do not have to pay for them but the sound quality is poor.
Purchased music is better, because you can listen in the order you want. You don’t have to wait for the song to come back onto the radio and you can skip songs. Playlist is important because it helps keep the listeners organized and up to date with newest songs. Aken stated that, “Playlists create relevance with music by labeling songs and creating groups.” (Aken n.p.) A playlist is a folder that contains a list of music from different genres and can be played in any order that is preferred. It can be listened to on the computer, iPhones, iPads, and another electronically device. being able to listen to your own playlist helps enhance the activities that are controlled by our brain. Listening to music enables us to get many different tasks done. People should listen to purchased music because one thing every body hates about having to listen to online streaming services is the result of receiving poor Wi-Fi connection. Nobody likes to hear music that keeps rebuffing especially if it’s a song that they really like and haven’t heard in a while. Based on an interview I took, this person stated “I would prefer listening to purchased music rather than listening to live streaming services because with live streaming the music can get a little fuzzy and some times the song has a high pitch voice, whereas on the other hand having mp3’s and mp4’s the music sounds clear and there is not special voice affects.” (Cicero-Santalena quest. 6) From another interview person 2 stated “ I do not have time to just sit on a computer and wait for a song to play on YouTube. Its takes forever and sometimes the song turns into a loading error. I rather purchase the song so I always have it and don’t have to worry about waiting for the song to load. I can have it on my tablet and do house work at the same time.” (Indelicato par. 2)
Listening to streamed music on live streaming services such as Spotify, YouTube, and Pandora is better because you can stream music for free without having to pay any thing and there is a large variety of genres to choose from. A lot of people recommend using streaming services when listening to music because they feel that having to pouches music is simply a of just throwing you money into the trash bin. People who do listen to music online like it better because its free, you are not wasting your money, and you can listen to a million different songs. Many people who listen to music, over time get exposed to different music which then creates new connections to the brain. In an article The Power Of Music’ To Affect The Brain a recent study showed that listen to music can help patients heal and babies that cry when they are a few weeks old were found to contain some of the basic intervals common to Western music. (Mannes par. 1 and 3) Something I found interesting was that listening to music can help stimulate more parts of the brain then any other function of the body. Some genres of music have a very soothing sound such as classical music and relaxation music. When people are listening to an online streaming service, some streaming services will give you an option to create playlists which allows you to control the experience but your still limited to needing connection.
What is the future for listening to music? People who listen to music on live streaming services will be more popular to those who purchase music. Live streaming services will take over having to not be able to purchase music anymore. People will save money and will not have any bills from using their credit cards. What happened if streaming replaces digital downloads? In today’s generation music people are streaming music more than having to go and purchase music. The rate of music being purchase is slowly taking a toll downstream. Most people might feel that they don’t need to be wasting their money on a song that maybe they could only be listen to once, it is pointless because they don’t need to have their credit card jacked up with tons of money owed due to excessive amounts of music purchases, and there are free services that let you listen without paying anything out of your pocket. On the other hand there has been an increasingly large rate of people listen to streaming services, and has taken place of the amount of music purchasing. For example, according to Dredge, “The boss of major label Warner Music Group has warned rivals to “think very carefully” before restricting the free tiers of streaming services like Spotify, after his company revealed that it now makes more money from streams than from download sales” (Dredge par. 1). So, streaming services are gaining popularity. People that are streaming music using streaming services do not have to worry about buying songs that they could be listening to once, there won’t be any charging fees, and you can only listen to the music of a limited number.
Works Cited
- Aken, R. A. “Encyclopedia of great song recording.” Current reviews for Academic Libraries; April 2014, Vol. 51 issue 8, p1370-1371, 2p: n.p. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
- Dredge, Stuart. “Warner Music reveals streaming income has overtaken downloads; WMG chief Stephen Cooper warns rivals against ditching freemium streaming in favour of subscription services as part of war against piracy.” The Guardian 13 May 2015: n.p. LexisNexis. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
- Mannes, Elena. “The Power Of Music’ To Affect The Brain.” NRP books Authors interviews 14 July 2011. Web. 12 Dec. 2015.
- Cicero-Santalena, Nina. Personal Interview. 24 Nov. 2015
- Indelicato, Connie. Personal Interview. 26 Nov. 2015
