I’ve been going through my MP3s and trying to figure out which songs I want to (eventually) buy on CD, or whether I should look for it in single form (i.e., through iTunes or the like). Strangely, a lot of songs that I had classified as songs that I liked in the early 2000s and late 90s are no longer that great. I mean, I would still like listening to them, but the novelty has worn off. Meanwhile there are quite a few songs from the last few years (say 2008 and on) which still sound interesting.
It may be a function of listening to the older songs more frequently compared to the new songs, although I don’t think that is necessarily true because I don’t listen to any of these songs often (instead my iPod is filled with songs that I own). Probably the better explanation is that the production and style of songs have evolved since the late 90s/early 00s and the old songs are no longer hip.
The lesson from all this is that if I have songs I like, then I should buy them in the first couple of years they’ve released, otherwise I won’t think its worthwhile to spend money on them. Or I could just not buy recent hits and then I’ll never need to buy any music.