Forgotten Stars Lost in Time

Streaming, in all of its flaws, holds a lot of perks in the modern setting. Now more than ever, artists are far more accessible. In all of its horrible means of paying the artist what they deserve, its consumer centrism opens up new avenues to gain attention. When I first started freely exploring the internet, Spotify was a lifesaver as a kid who wanted to learn more about hip-hop. Radio, music videos, and the never ending stream of music stemming from Music Choice TV channels can only unravel so much. Spotify was the platform where I could discover artists outside of the norm. The system was a bit archaic in a climate where the internet was only growing in usage. Kids my age weren’t keen on following the standard formula set out for us. We simply couldn’t afford to buy every iTunes album our favorite artists released. Radio was far too constricting in how much we wanted to hear different music. Sometimes, we just wanted to share with our friends the new cool thing we found scouring YouTube. YouTube was the Wild West for a while, any new creation could garner the right buzz no matter how bizarre. The key thing was word of mouth.

It’s fascinating to observe how music and its consumption has changed over the past decade. Sure, there was Napster and Limewire originally but the guise of questionable consumption practices created somewhat of a barrier YouTube and Spotify cannon-balled through. You…