I keep looking for the upside to streaming music services.  Apple music is nice because I can add tracks that I don’t physically own to playlists made up of tracks I do own.  That’s cool.  Also not having to buy individual records is okay, I guess, but for bands I really care about I still do.  So that’s a wash I guess.

The real upside though is browsing.  Assuming the service you are using has a wide enough catalog, you can dig into things that years ago you wouldn’t have exposed yourself too for whatever reason.  Personal case in point, Peter Green.  I knew him by reputation and a small handful of Fleetwood Mac songs, but that was it.  A couple of nights ago I was poking around on Spotify and stumbled on a multi-disc compilation of his music.  I gave it a spin and really liked it.  So what other British blues guitarists did I over look when I was a kid that I can give a chance today?  Rory Gallagher came to mind.  Good stuff.  Maybe not quite as good as his contemporaries, but I liked what I heard a lot.  Gary Moore?  Sure.  I remember back in 1990 holding the Still Got the Blues record in my hand and wondering whether or not I should just buy it.  I never did.  I’ve listened to a lot of it now.  I should have bought it back then.

So I’m thinking… blues guitarists… 1980’s-ish… who can I check on?  I know, Robert Cray.  I liked him back then, but I never came to really like him.  You know what I mean?  I found a compilation record and started listening.  Holy Shit!  This is SO much better than I remembered!  Even the songs I knew, “Smoking Gun” and “Phonebooth” and a couple others are way better than I remembered.  Why wasn’t “Smoking Gun” the biggest hit ever?  This song rules!  Is it possible that my tastes changed between the ages of 15 and 45?

I might be starting to come around on the whole streaming music thing, even though I know in my soul that they are screwing artists left and right.  Call me conflicted.