Internet revolutionizes mixed CDs

Mixed tapes have long served to express the feelings of those who cannot find the words themselves.

There are several types: there’s the “I’m too awkward to tell you how I really feel, so I’ll express it with Peter Gabriel” CD, the “I have superior tastes in music and I want to share it with you” CD, the “I know exactly what you’re feeling and will try to identify it through song,” CD, and the “These songs remind me of all of the good times we had together” CD.

There’s also the mixed CD with a very specific purpose, like the “local music mix,” “the car dancing mix,” and the “this reminds me of high school nostalgia mix.”

The days of waiting to record popular songs off the radio on a poorly recorded cassette are over and have been replaced with moving songs into a playlist from iTunes.

Thanks to Apple, digital music now needs only a lowercase ‘i’ slapped in front of anything to be cleverly marketed.

The mixed tape became the mixed CD.

The mixed CD is slowly becoming the digital mp3 playlist.

Much like e-mails replaced letters, the art of the perfect mixed tape accompanied by a scribbled out playlist is quickly dying with the digital age.

Hype Machine, located at hypem.com, provides links to blogs where mp3 playlists are posted.

Playlist.com and lastfm.com both provide social networking through accounts and music playlists.

The Internet is taking over, making downloading high quality recordings of all your favorite artists to your iPod as easy as a few right clicks.

Still, the mixed CD is not, and should not be forgotten.

You know that feeling you get when a hand-written letter in your mailbox?

The same feeling of ridiculous child-like excitement comes with receiving a mixed CD.

Even if the songs originated as mp3s, there’s nothing like a tangible CD with Sharpeed hearts to play in the car.

The perfect mixed CD should tell a story.

Like a good novel, it should start slow, develop its point, reach a zenith and then come back down.

It should be interesting beginning to end. One song should flow well into the other.

For this reason, be wary of mixed CD’s with alphabetical playlists. The “click and drag” playlist shows no thought for storytelling.

Music has an uncanny power to instantly recall memories from the deep dark cavernous parts of your brain. 

How often have we all come across an old tape and played it only to yell, “Oh! Oh! I danced to this at prom with that weird smelly kid!” or

“Man, I was an angsty sixteen year old!”

In the digital age, the personal touch cannot be lost.

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