Follow up

As luck might have it, albeit a day late, Spotify has presented me with My Year In Music! Here's an infographic snapshot:

In addition, I am informed that I listen most on Thursdays — beating out Wednesday by a hair — and that I am "on the go," listening via mobile 76% of the time, which makes sense because I listen a lot in the car. I also have a great little Bose SoundLink Mini Bluetooth Speaker that I connect to via my phone, even at home, but I also listen on my computer. I will likely be listening more at work in '15. And I just upgraded my Tivo and can stream Spotify through my new Roamio, too.

My top playlist was actually one of Kate's (as most are) called "Blast April." Lately, I've been listening to one called "Transition." I like my kids' taste in music and I like to think that I've/we've helped to inform their sensibilities, exposing them to everything under the rainbow, really, so that makes sense.

Here are my Top 10 Spotify Tracks of 2014:

1. Take Me to Church, Hozier
2. Arsonist's Lullabye, Hozier
3. Cocoon, Alpines
4. La La La, Naughty Boy
5. Hey Brother, Avicii
6. Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show, Neil Diamond
7. Retrograde, James Blake
8. Busy Earnin', Jungle
9. GMF, John Grant
10. Like a Dream, Francis and the Lights

No.  6 — That song is on a playlist that I created called "Nana Songs." A friend saw that list and wondered what songs I was playing for Junah! In truth, it's full of songs that are reminiscent of Mom, and it accompanied the slideshow that we put together for her memorial celebration. Neil is joined on that list by the likes of Doris Day, Simon & Garfunkel, Andrea Bocelli, Rod Stewart, Johnny Cash, Henry Mancini, Janis Joplin, and some Broadway and movie soundtrack selections… it's awesome.

There is continuing controversy, discussion, and even headlines on the topic of streaming music. Rosanne Cash, the No. 1 artist on my list, has testified. I certainly don't know what the answer is… technology moves so much faster than laws/rules/contracts.

Believe me, I get it.

I listened to the radio at work about 20x more than I did Spotify; I also listen to the radio in the car, along with CDs and other digital music. Interestingly, though I didn't purchase a ton of music last year, I did buy Rosanne Cash's The River & The Thread. It resonated. We have purchased, at one time or another (sometimes multiple times) and in various forms, music from every artist on the Nana Songs list. Katie came home with a pile o' records the other day — actual LPs — and I know that they were all by artists on her playlists. Most CDs (on Amazon, anyway) and many new LPs also come with a digital download.

I love the accessibility of music across multiple formats; the portability of digital; the exposure to new music and artists offered by streaming, as well as the ability to "share."

I'm currently listening to a playlist that Spotify created called "Play It Forward" — a new list of 30 songs to take into 2015 that were chosen based on what I listened to in 2014. I like that. There are only a couple of artists whose names I recognize; I've already favorited some of those new songs so I can investigate artists/albums further.

Anyway, there you have it, along with my thoughts and maybe things to ponder.

Music makes the world go 'round.

And here's how old I am: I did a search for "music makes the world go round." I saw this YouTube video, quickly scanned the titled and thought, "Huh. When did David Cassidy make a video with R. Kelly?"

Answer: Hahahahaha.