Heartfelt lyricism, smooth vocals, and carefully curated instrumental backing are what some students view as perfection. Music is and always has been a universal expression of emotion, constantly changing and evolving. From vinyls to CDs to streaming, music consumption has only advanced, allowing people to always have some sort of musical media on or around them. Senior Meradeth Reinsbach is one of the few students who collect physical musical media, along with the typical app-streaming.
“ I use an MP3 player for the most part. And then I listen to a lot of vinyls, a lot of CDs, and some cassettes. I use a reel-to-reel, too,” Reinsbach said.
Not all people listen to music through physical media, with most people streaming on their phones. Spotify, a global music streaming app, collects and analyzes personalized music data for the year and fits it to its listeners’ accounts, presenting them with their own “Spotify Wrapped”. The video presentation lists personal listening statistics for each person, including their top five songs and artists. This year, it also displayed the user’s top five albums, “listening age,” and reintroduced top five genres, features that had been left out in previous years.
“It shows you who your favorite artists are in general, and how long you’ve been listening to music for the past year,” junior Julian Busse said.
While some are satisfied with listening to music through earbuds or speakers, some prefer to hear their favorite artists or bands live. Concerts can be an expensive outing, but it’s worth the cost for fans.
“I have been to so many concerts, from country to Gracie Abrams,” sophomore Penny Lane Lawler said.
Music can be generational, with parents unknowingly influencing their children’s taste. By constantly playing their own playlists or albums, preferences can develop young, with a passion for music following.
“My mom had always listened to music around the house growing up, so I’ve just always been exposed to music,” Lawler said.
Whether listening through vinyls or app-streaming, music is an art loved by all. By receiving analytics on what exactly listeners have had on replay all year, people can make connections through shared interests. Regardless of how connections are made, whether by “listening ages”, which for Reinsbach was 66, or top genre, which for Busse was Pop Rap, music can universally bond people.
“It just summarizes my year, and it’s kind of cool to see who we were all listening to throughout the year. It shows how your music taste changes, that’s my favorite part,” Reinsbach said.
