How do you listen to music?


The way in which I intake music has dramatically shifted throughout the past decade. Millennials aren’t completely alone when reflecting on the days of BearShare, LimeWire and 3rd party websites that converted YouTube videos to MP3 files. I had everything – CD players, Zunes, MP3 Players, MP4 Players and the infamous iPod Shuffle. As time passed, Pandora became my go-to for all my favorite artist and new music.

Then came Spotify and everything else was history.

Spotify has been my absolute favorite for about 3 years now. It was so convenient I stopped using other forms of music streaming services. I can easily connect this app to my phone, laptop, TV or friend’s device. I can control the music from a second device which means my laziness has increased substantially. Their latest, “Spotify Wrapped” year in review was such a clever way to highlight how each individual user’s musical taste evolved as well as what songs seemed to play an integral part in their year. According to the app, I spent 10% of my time last year listening to music which equated to around 53k minutes.

The way in which I consume music has vastly evolved. I think Gen Zers appreciate the constant innovation of streaming services and look for to the upcoming features. 


Music streaming services have changed the way most people listen music. Personally, I’ve gone through Spotify and Apple Music to listen to my favorite artists. Spotify has proven to be the most reliable streaming out there (in my opinion, of course) not only does it combine ease in usability but it provides a platform for me to explore my musical interest beyond the core few artists I love. On the other hand, Apple Music proves to be more difficult to use and doesn’t offer the same appeal. However, both streaming services take the fuss out of going out a CD or individual songs on iTunes and provide everything I need with a simple app.


Throughout middle and high school I was a loyalist to Apple, mostly because my super-cool shuffle iPod was my only music listening device at the time. I also used to only buy single songs at the time because it didn't make sense to purchase and take a chance on music I wasn't familiar with. I never realized how isolated my tastes were until I was given the ability to stream songs and listen to a better variety of artists and genres.

Midway through high school, a blessing in disguise occurred when my iTunes account malfunctioned, traumatically deleting years of music purchases. While Apple has since restored my account, I've been too paranoid to make purchases via iTunes since then. 

In a lot of ways, this event permanently changed the way I listen to music. Nowadays, I prefer to stream music through sites like Spotify and Soundcloud because there's no way to lose the files! I've also developed a real appreciation for physical copies of anything, whether it's an album, magazine, book, etc. There’s something really amazing about being able to hold a physical representation of an artist’s hard work in your hands.

Overall, I'm really grateful there are so many avenues available for people to consume music. I used to think listening to music wasn't really "my thing" because the songs available to me didn't appeal to my tastes. It never occurred to me that there was a much larger picture I wasn't able to see.