DanTranimal

The Day I Fell in Love with A Girl Named Music

Posted on the January 5th, 2011 under music by dantranimal

Out of all the special firsts in one’s life, there is one that I will always remember: the first time I fell in love with music.

Of course, all of us are born with the ability to appreciate rhythm and melody, but at some point we transition from being entertained by children’s music to being a real fan of music, conveniently coinciding around the time of puberty.

I remember accidentally tuning into MTV and watching a music video to No Doubt’s Spiderwebs. Till this day, I can not give a reasonable explanation as to why that song appealed to me, nor any song since then. Like with most arts, but especially with music, appreciation doesn’t come from logic but from emotion, and at that point, it simply clicked for me.

With my leftover lunch money, instead of purchasing comic books or toys, I began my music collection in earnest. First it was No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom album, then the “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down” single by Puff Daddy and Mase, the Space Jams soundtrack, and unashamedly, the Spice Girls’ debut album.

For me, CDs were almost unaffordably expensive, but these prices were considered the norm at the time, and in order to quench my music thirst I had to pay $15 per album.

Fortunately, around the same time, the proliferation and distribution of MP3 music initiated the digital music boom and the music industry was never the same again.

Compared to days of yesteryear, I no longer am confined to listening only to mainstream music or what the music labels deem most profitable for them. I’m now exposed to a variety of different artists and music genre, and my appreciation for music has only grown.

For adolescents growing up, there exists an ever-expanding number of music discovery tools such as The Hype Machine or Pandora. Aspiring musicians now have a vast music library to draw creative inspiration from, a luxury unavailable to their predecessors. What results is a thriving and truly original music culture.

Unfortunately, the music industry remains obstinate and refuses to adapt to a changing music culture. Instead of working with online music start-ups to develop a sustainable business model, they hold onto the steadfast belief that by suing or shutting down online streaming sites they’ll continue to profit from their antiquated ways of doing business. A number of great music sites have already shut down (e.g. Seeqpod, Muxtape) or have bled to death (e.g. Playlist, Imeem).

Yet, there is one site that has been immune to the labels’ wrath, but mostly because they are a music discovery site centered around emerging or new artists. Either manually or algorithm-based, WeAreHunted.com scrawls through numerous music blogs to aggregate the 99 most talked about emerging songs.

I’ve only been an avid user of WeAreHunted.com since late October and below are songs I particularly enjoy in the past two months. I hope you enjoy them as well.

Diamond Messages – Liquid Summer

Dirty Gold – California Sunrise

G-Eazy – Waspy

Little Red – Rock It

Boy & Bear – Mexican Mavis

Homeboi – Shrimps

Mac Miller – Knock Knock

Lissie – Pursuit Of Happiness (Kid Cudi Cover)

Eliza Doolittle – Pack Up

Agnes Obel – Riverside

Hoodie Allen – Words of Wisdom

You – Gold Panda

Wale- Hold You

People Under the Stairs – Hit the Top (Tha Trickaz Remix)

The Go! Team – T.O.R.N.A.D.O.

U.S. Royalty – Equestrian

Bedouin Soundclash – Brutal Hearts (feat. Coeur De Pirate)

The Hundred In The Hands – Pigeons

Aydio – Deltitnu

Wolfgang Gartner – Illmerica

Selah Sue – Raggamuffin

J. Cole – Blow Up

Skrillex – Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites