CDs vs. iPods

With the advent of iPods and other MP3 players, sales of CDs have apparently declined. Apparently, most people buy their music online, download it to their computer or MP3 player, and go on their merry way. I, on the other hand, still like CDs. That's what I listen to in the car. And in my house. I don't have a way to listen to music in either location any other way. While I seem to be a fairly early adopter when it comes to new music artists, I seem to be a late adopter when it comes to my music technology.

It took me a while to get on the CD train. I was perfectly happy with my LPs. And I had a ton of them, so I didn't want to expend the money to replace them all. Not to mention that some of those LPs never did come out on CD. At the time, my car also only had a tape player, so it wasn't important to get CDs to play in the car. And for working out, I had a Walkman that also played tapes. All was good.

Then one day, I decided it was time to adopt CDs. I got lots of them. I started with the 12 CDs for $.01 deal, and bought a whole bunch in a relatively short period of time. Easy when all I was doing was replacing the LPs. And then I bought a new car, and it had a CD player. So CDs became my thing. I also bought a CD Walkman for working out. And a carrier that went around my waist so that I could keep the CDs from bouncing when I ran. I burned a bunch of collection CDs, especially for working out. All was good.

And then came iPods. I didn't want to go through the hassle of putting my CDs on the computer and then onto an iPod. Plus, paying several hundred dollars for an iPod seemed completely ridiculous. But then....I found the iPod Shuffle. For $50, I have 2 GB worth of music. Easier for working out because you don't have to deal with the whole bouncing problem. Now I still did have to go through the pain of putting the CDs on the computer and then downloading the music to the iPod. But I'm over that now. In fact, I bought a second Shuffle so that I didn't have to change the music on the first one, but I didn't get bored with listening to the same songs again and again - even if there are something like 50 songs on the one Shuffle. So now I have two iPod Shuffles, and honestly I don't see myself buying a full iPod or even a Nano. And I still haven't gotten into downloading songs from iTunes. In fact, when I first for the iPod, I didn't even register with iTunes because I didn't want to give them any credit card information. All is good.

But a month ago, I bought an iPhone. And I've put my iPod music on it. And I've set up an iTunes account - because that's how you buy apps for the phone. So perhaps, just perhaps, downloading music is in my future. And maybe get an iPod player adapter for my car. And for the house. Nah! Too soon.

No Concerts This Summer?

This summer might be the first on record when I haven't been to a concert. Usually, I get to at least one or two shows a summer. Often at Wolf Trap, one of the nation's best concert venues and a beautiful setting too.

I'm not sure what happened this year. It's only July so I suppose that I could make plans and get to a show before summer is over. But I just don't have any particular burning desire to do so. And I'm not sure why.

I'm a huge music lover. I have more than 200 CDs and, unlike the younger generations, I am still buying them. Just this past week, I got 3 Doors Down, Daughtry, Rob Thomas, and an old Joan Armatading. About a month ago, I got a couple of other CDs including Chris Isaak, Pink, and Duffy. I wake up to a CD playing - currently it's Jason Mraz's newest CD "We Dance. We Sing. We Steal Things." And I have a 6-CD player that is usually playing whenever I'm home during the weekend.

And I enjoy live music performances. In addition to Wolf Trap, I go to shows at the Birchmere several times a year. Jammin' Java is not that far away in Vienna, and I've been known to go there too on occasion. On average, I usually see 6-8 shows a year.

So it's strange that I have not made any plans to go to a concert this summer. Several of the musicians I enjoy are touring. Chris Isaak has a new CD out and is playing at Wolf Trap. Actually, I think he's already made his DC tour stop. I recently bought the new Daughtry CD. I'm pretty sure that they are touring and are making a stop in the DC area sometime this summer. I know Rob Thomas is due to be here this fall. He has a new solo CD out as well, which I just listened to for the first time today.

Hmmm....Maybe I do need to make some summer concert plans. After all, it's only July.