Audiogalaxy was amazing. I found so much good music through it that totally influenced my taste for the rest of my life. Soulseek, OiNK, What.CD and Waffles led the way after that. Now it’s Redacted and Orpheus. It’s been a journey!
Diskman? When I was young I had this one, copying the music from the Radio and from my vinilos on the turnable… Much later an cassette player in a Ghetto Blaster.
1999 CDs were typically $20 - $30 so it was actually worse. This was what you would pay at a Sam Goody, Camelot Music, FYE etc.
It wasn’t until a few years later that CD prices were cheaper. You could go to Wal-Mart and get cheaper prices, but you would be buying censored or edited albums.
I remember the Wal-Mart release of Eminem’s second album was missing the entire song of Kim for example, just completely replaced.
I think a lot of people who post about the nineties weren’t spending their own money or something, because I remember how pricey music was, and cherished each CD.
Cool, but definitely not my experience growing up. You could get those prices sometimes at Wal-Mart but CDa would be edited or censored, and I grew up in an area where there were no standalone CD or Record stores, so all I saw and had access to was mall stores like Camelot Music, FYE, or Sam Goody.
The prices I’m referencing were 100% accurate for my time of reference, which was the bulk of the nineties.
Only towards the end, like literal turn of the century late 1999 into 2000 did things actually start to change.
Yeah you can’t really censor Kim lol. At least it was replaced with a new song (a South-Park-parody drug-PSA for kids) and not something from the first album.
I used Napster and Limewire at that time, I believe. But like other commenters have said - 20 bucks in 1999 is the equivalent to $36 or so today. And we did that without being able to pre-listen.
I actually threw Metallica’s St. Anger out the window on the drive home from the record store I was so upset. I’d had a horrible day and everything kept going wrong, even small things. I drove 45 minutes North to the nearest record store, had to walk back out to my car for change (I didn’t have enough cash) and after the first few songs I started to get this pit in my stomach and I just fucking lost it. Rolled the window down at 65mph and threw that thing as hard as I could. And we had very little money at the time. Good times…
I think streaming makes music a “throwaway” product.
I well and fondly remember when a new album of my favorite band came out and I met friends at the music store to listen and buy it from my saved pocket money. And I still habe most of these albums… and I still listen to them… all though they live on my music players hdd permanently
I really don’t miss the days when we paid more money for a significantly more inconvenient way of listening to SIGNIFICANTLY less diverse music on much shittier devices.
Music streaming is just … Objectively better for everybody. Small bands can be heard, hence the indy scene booming so hard, consumers can access their content anywhere there’s internet.
I think you miss the ritual around getting physical media and having a session where you just sit back and listen to the album for the first time. You could try to replicate it, but I think child-like wonder was the main ingredient ;)
Streaming allowed me to discover 1700 songs that I love. It gave me the opportunity to enjoy countless genres. Now I export my liked songs to a spreadsheet so I never lose them. I wouldn’t be able to do that otherwise. It’s done great things for my music listening.
There’s still good stuff out there. You just have to dig deeper, take risks, and you have to make the conscious decision to give it an active listen from front to back.
Right? There are artists who still care about the album format. King Gizz was one of those gems I discovered that I wouldn’t have otherwise. They’re constantly dropping new thematic albums worth listening to. And you can buy vinyl from many artists these days if you want a physical copy.
Yeah I joined Columbia House once upon a time and did manage to complete the minimum obligation. Honestly it wasn’t a bad deal. Album prices kept going up around that time so the initial 10 albums I got when joining would have cost me a lot more than I ended up paying in total.
I signed up for some BMG deal where you get 12 CDs if you buy one. They sent me the one but I never paid them (I was 9). They sent my family a letter demanding money but we never paid. Suckers!
Not to be pedantic but Limewire wasn’t released in the 90’s, 1999 on the title is at least close to a good date but 1990 is way to early for programs like Limewire, that’s basically universities and military only internet times.
Took a quick look at the wiki and have to admit that this is hilarious:
Both a zero-cost version and a purchasable “enhanced” version called LimeWire Pro were available; however, LimeWire Pro could be acquired for free through the standard LimeWire software, where users distributed it without authorization.
Where were you getting albums from popular bands/artists for $10 in '99? That shit was approaching $20 or more when Napster finally took care of those assholes.
As a kid in the 2000s I got the yearly now that’s what I call music album then listened to those 16-18 songs for the rest of the year or the radio. Until limewire.
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Nah, at that time AudioGalaxy was in full spring and I was rocking the MZ-R30 Minidisc walkman.
Audiogalaxy was amazing. I found so much good music through it that totally influenced my taste for the rest of my life. Soulseek, OiNK, What.CD and Waffles led the way after that. Now it’s Redacted and Orpheus. It’s been a journey!
The first Tony Yayo album comes to mind. Or wait, was that Young Buck? Some lackluster G-Unit member going solo, at least
I don’t miss the times when I had to use my headphones as an antena for radio, as I couldn’t buy music.
Back when i had an xperia phone it actually was able to pick up radio with headphones connected, had an app for it
I had a pair of headphones with an actual built-in radio. I thought I was hot shit. It was the mid-90s and I was probably 10-ish.
Were they also yellow like mine?
Nah, classic late 90s metallic gray.
Diskman? When I was young I had this one, copying the music from the Radio and from my vinilos on the turnable… Much later an cassette player in a Ghetto Blaster.
1999 CDs were typically $20 - $30 so it was actually worse. This was what you would pay at a Sam Goody, Camelot Music, FYE etc.
It wasn’t until a few years later that CD prices were cheaper. You could go to Wal-Mart and get cheaper prices, but you would be buying censored or edited albums.
I remember the Wal-Mart release of Eminem’s second album was missing the entire song of Kim for example, just completely replaced.
I think a lot of people who post about the nineties weren’t spending their own money or something, because I remember how pricey music was, and cherished each CD.
I still have some of my CDs from the nineties.
And to add to that, something that used to cost $20 in 1995 dollars costs $40 in 2023 dollars.
And to add to that, something that used to cost $20 in 1995 dollars costs $40 in 2023 dollars.
And to add to that, something that used to cost $20 in 1995 dollars costs $40 in 2023 dollars.
I used a cassette player until 2002!
I don’t even feel like that’s strange, I had lots of cassettes and a casette player in my car until 2015 or so
No the average price of CDs in the 90s was about $15 and they were on sale regularly for $10-12 in some places.
I bought about 400 CDs in the 90s and still have them.
Cool, but definitely not my experience growing up. You could get those prices sometimes at Wal-Mart but CDa would be edited or censored, and I grew up in an area where there were no standalone CD or Record stores, so all I saw and had access to was mall stores like Camelot Music, FYE, or Sam Goody.
The prices I’m referencing were 100% accurate for my time of reference, which was the bulk of the nineties.
Only towards the end, like literal turn of the century late 1999 into 2000 did things actually start to change.
I promise this is true.
Yeah you can’t really censor Kim lol. At least it was replaced with a new song (a South-Park-parody drug-PSA for kids) and not something from the first album.
What was used for file sharing in 1999? IRC, Napster or something else?
Napster was released exactly in 1999, and before that IRC groups were active since the 80’s
I used Napster and Limewire at that time, I believe. But like other commenters have said - 20 bucks in 1999 is the equivalent to $36 or so today. And we did that without being able to pre-listen.
I actually threw Metallica’s St. Anger out the window on the drive home from the record store I was so upset. I’d had a horrible day and everything kept going wrong, even small things. I drove 45 minutes North to the nearest record store, had to walk back out to my car for change (I didn’t have enough cash) and after the first few songs I started to get this pit in my stomach and I just fucking lost it. Rolled the window down at 65mph and threw that thing as hard as I could. And we had very little money at the time. Good times…
Is it because Lars’ drumming sounded like a skeleton masturbating in a file cabinet?
That’s beautiful, it’s like poetry.
I think streaming makes music a “throwaway” product.
I well and fondly remember when a new album of my favorite band came out and I met friends at the music store to listen and buy it from my saved pocket money. And I still habe most of these albums… and I still listen to them… all though they live on my music players hdd permanently
I absolutely agree. I quit the streaming services and now put the money towards purchasing media I actually care about.
I really don’t miss the days when we paid more money for a significantly more inconvenient way of listening to SIGNIFICANTLY less diverse music on much shittier devices.
Music streaming is just … Objectively better for everybody. Small bands can be heard, hence the indy scene booming so hard, consumers can access their content anywhere there’s internet.
I think you miss the ritual around getting physical media and having a session where you just sit back and listen to the album for the first time. You could try to replicate it, but I think child-like wonder was the main ingredient ;)
Streaming allowed me to discover 1700 songs that I love. It gave me the opportunity to enjoy countless genres. Now I export my liked songs to a spreadsheet so I never lose them. I wouldn’t be able to do that otherwise. It’s done great things for my music listening.
what.cd’s (RIP) big music spider tree was that for me. Artist I like? At the the bottom of the page, a buncha of others like them.
There’s still good stuff out there. You just have to dig deeper, take risks, and you have to make the conscious decision to give it an active listen from front to back.
Right? There are artists who still care about the album format. King Gizz was one of those gems I discovered that I wouldn’t have otherwise. They’re constantly dropping new thematic albums worth listening to. And you can buy vinyl from many artists these days if you want a physical copy.
Anyone else remember the mail order CD services like Columbia house and bmg? I probably still owe them like a grand lmao.
Yeah I joined Columbia House once upon a time and did manage to complete the minimum obligation. Honestly it wasn’t a bad deal. Album prices kept going up around that time so the initial 10 albums I got when joining would have cost me a lot more than I ended up paying in total.
Oh wow I completely forgot about these
I signed up for some BMG deal where you get 12 CDs if you buy one. They sent me the one but I never paid them (I was 9). They sent my family a letter demanding money but we never paid. Suckers!
No body paid for them. You get two or three sets of tapes/CDs and never looked back. I’m surprised that lasted as long as it did lol
I’m just not ready for that kind of commitment.
Listening stations were LIFE!!!
Its 1999: WinMX
Its 1990: Limewire.
Not to be pedantic but Limewire wasn’t released in the 90’s, 1999 on the title is at least close to a good date but 1990 is way to early for programs like Limewire, that’s basically universities and military only internet times.
See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LimeWire
Took a quick look at the wiki and have to admit that this is hilarious:
Oh how the turn tables turn.
That’s exactly how I got Limewire Pro. I don’t know anyone who paid for it or WinRAR.
1.29 a song bb
Oh no! A band made some money!
FUCK SPOTIFY.
Where were you getting albums from popular bands/artists for $10 in '99? That shit was approaching $20 or more when Napster finally took care of those assholes.
At Fye in 1999 CDs were $19.95 plus tax where I grew up.
For sure, typically ranging from $15 - $20
As a kid in the 2000s I got the yearly now that’s what I call music album then listened to those 16-18 songs for the rest of the year or the radio. Until limewire.
Here we had Big Shiny Tunes
#2 being the best of the bunch, imho. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns0UidyZH2k
lmao what a fucking trip back in time. I had a couple of those albums myself. I remember seeing the commercials with all the kids singing the songs
I think that was Kids Bop, which is essentially Now That’s What I Call Music, but kids were covering the songs instead of the actual band
Ah right you are. Shows how long all this was
Funnily enough, they still make them, both on steaming platforms and on CDs, swear to god there’s one on my nearest Tesco’s shelf