[raddan]

I also enjoy the huge explosion in availability of music. And I think the youtube recommender algorithm is insanely good. But I do agree somewhat with the author's sentiment: something has been lost.

I've been thinking about this a lot recently and I realized what was missing for me: the social aspect. Back in the 90's, when I was a teenager, finding new music required you to expand your social network. For me, the height of this was when I worked at a college radio station in the late 90's. It seemed like "cool music" came attached to "cool people." I've since outgrown the snobbery, but when I think about what socializing was like during those years, it often involved hanging around with no other purpose other than to listen to music together and to talk. Maybe the kids still do that but I do not and I miss it.