I traded in my Spotify subscription for cd’s and concert tickets

For the love of music

I grew up with music in the house.

My mom was a pianist and quite a few of my baby photos has me on her lap behind the piano. As the years passed I slowly started to learn how to make my own music, starting with singing, then moving on to the piano.

When I hit my teenage years I added drums and guitar to the mix. It was the 90’s and playing in a band was the cool thing to do. Later, in my 20’s there was a short period where I tried to learn the trumpet, but that didn’t last very long and I’m pretty sure that the whole neighbourhood was glad for it.

A big band Christmas concert - what a festive evening this was.

Close to end of my high school career I discovered jazz and fell in love with it. I found an Ella Fitzgerald cd at the bottom of my parents music pile and in no time it was playing on repeat in my bedroom. By this time I was fully convinced that the human voice was the most beautiful instrument of all. (Controversial maybe?)

Later after a short stint at a business degree, I went on to study music in a combined classical and jazz department. (That on it’s own was quite the experience.) Here it was drilled into me that in order to become a better musician one had to listen to music. A lot of it. Listen. Listen. Listen.

No complaints from me. Listening to music has always been one of my favourite and most relaxing things to do.

Thus the shock when I found myself, less than two decades later, no longer listening to music. Music had somehow become something that was on in the background, which I would then switch off very quickly in an attempt to fight off the ever increasing overwhelm caused by too many stimuli in the environment.

How I missed the days where I would lie on my bed with my walkman or cd player, listening to a whole album while following along with the lyrics in the little booklet that came with it.

Initially when we got a Spotify subscription it was a way of legally listening to a wide variety of music without having to buy a load of cd’s. How is it then that instead of listening to more music I ended up listening to less and less as the years went by.

I’m not a playlist type of listener, I prefer listening to a whole album, without shuffling the tracks, believing that there is a reason why an artist would put them in a certain order. My favourite albums being those where the transition from one track to the next is so smooth that it pulls you even deeper into the music. Spotify’s business model on the other hand, is very much built on cashing in from feeding it’s listeners mind numbingly boring, elevator music, playlists, drenched with stock music.¹

Conductors are so entertaining to watch and fun draw.

At the end of last year I found myself in a discussion with my daughter about technology, apps and subscriptions. I told her that I was basically just listening to the same five albums over and over on Spotify. Realising how much we could have saved had I just cancelled the subscription and bought the albums long ago. I think I just kept the subscription out of fear that I would lose access to all that music. Music that I didn’t even listen to. We figured out that with just 2 months worth of subscription fees I could by 2 to 4 cd’s or one live, in person, concert ticket. Often of a Grammy Award winning artist.

Mirga Gražinytė-Tyle was the conductor for this concert and she was absolutely amazing. We were fortunate to sit behind the orchestra for this concert which meant that we could see her conducting so well. The things she can do with a baton will make the best Hogwarts students hide their head in shame. If you ever get the chance to see a concert where se conducts you have to grab the opportunity.

The main thing though that got me to cancel our subscription was the realisation that I was no longer actively listening to music. Something that used to be my absolute favourite thing in the world to do. I think there is something to the scarcity of music before streaming services that made the music that you did have access to more valuable, deepening one’s appreciation for it.

So for the last couple of months I have been trying to play catchup, using the subscription money to buy concert tickets and the cd’s I have been missing out on, one by one. In the mean time I have been loving, appreciating and actively listening to one album at a time.

Last week Laufey’s latest album arrived in the mail, and it has brought me so much joy. From ordering it from the artist’s own website to waiting for it, forgetting that I ordered it and then being pleasantly surprised when it arrived. And the listening experience? That has been grand. I can not tell you how incredibly happy it has made me to listen to the album, following along with the track list on the sleeve. Reading about who wrote which song and who the musicians on each track are. Dancing and swaying to the music with my kids. And at the end of a long day, instead of scrolling through an endless supply of series options, opting for a deep, active listening experience.

I have also been able to go to more concerts of late. Which means more quick sketches of musicians in my pocket sized sketchbook. Making sure to also capture these happy memories in my favourite way. This practise has made me incredibly happy.

music + concert + drawing = joy x 3

A very quick sketch I did right before the lights dimmed and the music started.

There are many more things to this topic to go in to, from radio to music discovery, and how one shares music with friends, but I’ll leave you with this for now.

Now it is your turn - feel free to flood the comments with nostalgic retellings of your favourite listening experiences. Tell me what your listening experience has been like lately. Did it change from when you were younger? What’s your all time favourite album? Do you also draw during concerts?

And always - Happy listening!

Nino

1. You can read more about Spotify’s business practises in this article: https://harpers.org/archive/2025/01/the-ghosts-in-the-machine-liz-pelly-spotify-musicians/