There is no denying that music eases the mind and soothes the soul. I know that a bad day, or even a bad moment, can seem to fade away when I get into a good piece of music. As a former high school “marching band geek” I spent a lot of time listening to and playing many different kinds of music. Most would consider my palate very wide, since I listen to alternative, third-wave ska, metal, country, classical, easy listening, and jazz. Although I listen mainly to modern alternative and ska, the music I listen to depends on the mood I am in, and what task I am doing at the time. Music can not only be soothing, but motivational as well!
With technology advancing at a feverish rate, the options there are for listening to your favorite music are numerous. Not long ago the only option out there was either cassette or CD. Even further “back in the day” there were 8-tracks and records (contrary to popular belief, I am not too young to know what these were).
I remember when the first waves of mp3 players were introduced and I knew the market of music would change forever. No longer would we have to make mixed CD’s of our favorite tunes and be limited to the small amount of storage on a disk, only to get ticked off the minute it got scratched from rolling around in the inside of the cab. Soon entire collections would fit directly onto the music device itself. This technology has come a long way in a short time and has given us the ultimate in personal music portability!
Satellite radio, known to a lot of us now as SiriusXM, would put music into a whole new perspective. Paid commercial-free satellite radio would make it possible to listen to your favorite genres of radio from anywhere. For those of us in the trucking industry, this was a very appealing technological breakthrough.
Other than SiriusXM, I am very fond of one other form of musical enjoyment. Multiple smartphone apps exist for music listening and have changed the way I listen to music on the road, as well as at home. Two of these that I use almost daily are Pandora and iHeartRadio. Pandora allows you to enter what you want to hear (song, artist, genre, etc.) and uses a mathematical algorithm, along with user feedback, to make musical suggestions you might like. It sounds complicated, but as an avid user let me tell you, it really works! iHeartRadio is an app that allows you to customize your own stations for listening, or even listen to original stations from around the country that are part of their service. I happen to use this app for listening to a couple of my favorite stations from home anywhere in the country while I am away.
There are a lot of options for listening to your favorite tunes, either while at home or on the road. Some of these come with a premium price while others are completely free (as long as you don’t mind the occasional commercial). When you happen to have a bad day out there and need a pick me up, try to find a solution in the music that you enjoy. Let the availability of options out there make it possible to take your mood to a different level.
This blog is dedicated to my old high school marching band instructor, who saw in me a spark of musical talent and took the time to nurture it into a love for music I carry with me every day. He is also the man who taught me “Early is on time, on time is late, and late is very, very bad!” You are always thought of and I hope you are resting in peace!