I Heart iTunes.

Let me cut right to the chase here. I love the iTunes Music Store. Plain and simple.

I’ve always enjoyed listening to music, but have almost always hated what I hear on the radio. Sure, there are some gems to be had, but the overwhelming majority of regular-play radio is simply tepid. And that may actually be a compliment to some degree.

Spending an inordinate amount of money on music isn’t foreign to me. Sure, I took advantage of Napster when it wasn’t commercial, and I’ve been known to use Bit Torrent to acquire albums every now and again. But the reality is, with the iTunes Music Store, I have all I need. I haven’t purchased a CD, nor have I illicitly acquired music in years. I just don’t see the need to anymore.

I suppose it’s my MTV-generation lack of attention, but I’m constantly on the lookout for new music. That’s not to say I don’t have some staples in library, but I simply can’t have enough. And when I want it, I want it immediately. Who can be bothered to actually walk to HMV, or seek out the album on some torrent site? Not I. I need instant gratification. And that’s definitely part of the ITMS’s secret sauce. Almost everything you could want is available for immediate download for $0.99 a song. It’s almost too easy. The press of one button is all it takes.

Sure, the music is locked up with DRM, but I haven’t had a problem with it. The restrictions are liberal enough not to get in the way. I can’t share my music with others, but I suppose that’s the point, right? And being that I’m always looking for new music, I wish iTunes had better recommendation features. Apple should license the Pandora technology and start serving up some intelligent recommendations. I have a feeling my music consumption would continue to increase with the addition of such a feature.

So, what I am listening to these days?

I find myself listening more and more to “indy” music. Of course that term is a gross generalization, as most popular “indy” bands are signed to a major label and aren’t actually independent, but that really doesn’t matter. It’s the indy sound I like. Raw, ragged, rough-around-the-edge music, that isn’t over produced and inspired more by emotion and less by commercial gain. I’m guessing it’s only a matter of time until it becomes rot with commercialism, but until then, my iPod will be on repeat.