7 ms·

Are Kids Losing Their Love for Music?

14 points by gargs 2y ago

zecg 2y ago
> The only way she can access music is by making me get my phone out and play a song on my Spotify account. I gave my kids Newpipe (that can download .opus files) and VLC (IMO it's clunky as an audio player, but they like it). Occasionally they'll want a full album, so I fire up the ol' Nicotine+ and download it.
empressplay 2y ago
MP3 players aren't hard to find (neither are MP3s for that matter), also used CDs, records, tapes etc, and players for same This article seems to be an answer in search of a question
- nothercastle 2y ago
  They aren’t hard to find but music discovery is problematic at the 1-5grade. Peers don’t have access so they can’t share music interests. My kid only knows Taylor swift and nothing else. There was a similar article on book discovery failing in the 9 + year old range.
winternett 2y ago
Big industry and Ai companies are flooding the Internet with low-grade music. This is their tactic to holding far better independent music out of view, because if indie music took over, there would be no going back to big industry music. Coupled with social apps like TikTok & Instagram and streaming companies like Spotify not allowing indie artists to grow without paying serious ad money, the larger industry is actively preventing independent music from being heard, and running undercover grifts on artists that aren't making a dime off of their work. When people go to sites like YouTube and Spotify, it's very difficult to find an artists best work, these sites do everything to steer listeners towards big industry music, rather than helping independents to grow. Tech sites are grifting hard working musicians that aren't getting any reimbursement for their work, and there should be more accountability, because we're all being pelted with artificial and weak music as a result. Kids love music, but they literally can't find the best of it anymore because of anti-competitive behavior by tech companies and the big music industry.
- j7ake 2y ago
  I hope companies like http://www.unitedmasters.com http://www.unitedmasters.com will help change that trend!
  - winternett 2y ago
    They've been around for a long time now, just another digital distributor that charges artists to upload music... They're also owned by a major industry entity, the same ones I'm posting about... Hardly a game changer. Major labels strangle independent artists and frustrate them to the point where they'll desperately sign weak big industry contracts and then get popular, but ripped off. The whole industry needs a major reorganization from it's current exploitation model.
- DontchaKnowit 2y ago
  Honestly I think this is a weird opinion. Tiny, independendant bedroom producers are BLOWING TF UP every single day becayse 5 seconds of their song becomes a tic tok meme. Its a great time for independant artists, financially, and the tech companies are facilitating it, not hindering it.
  - winternett 2y ago
    >Tiny, independendant bedroom producers are BLOWING TF UP every single day becayse 5 seconds of their song becomes a tic tok meme. That is a common trope pushed by platforms like TikTok & IG to encourage musicians to work on the platform. TikTok does not help musicians to grow in any way unless they are already very popular (over ~100k followers). If you become a popular artist on TikTok, they invite you to HQ where they assign you a client manager that gives you help in promoting your account, but it comes with a price. Social platforms captures the profit that a musician reaps from using the platform without paying royalties in most cases in reality. The music business now is a broken system of payola if you ask artists that weren't born rich. TikTok is also on the way out as an option as well, as it is supposedly going to be banned in September this year.
- tsunagatta 2y ago
Foreignborn 2y ago
Has anyone built a screenless music player for their kids, or perhaps other projects that allow safe, independent exploration without a phone? I'm interested in creating something for my children to discover music beyond my own collection. My kid doesn't have a phone, and so doesn't really have any autonomy in finding and playing music (as the article points out). I recall DIY projects with NFC-enabled printed albums or perhaps using eink tags (though expensive). Maybe I'd hook it up to some api like Bandcamp (or *arr apps if need be).
- beAbU 2y ago
  iPod?
  - galleywest200 2y ago
    Yes, I agree with this poster. Just buy your child an MP3 player, they are still made today and lack internet connectivity. You can buy songs on BandCamp, download the files, and then throw songs on the SD card.
- bruceboughton 2y ago
  Yes, Yoto! It’s not just for (kids) audiobooks, they have music cards too. And you can upload your own MP3s to their blank cards, or use it as a Bluetooth speaker.
  - doublerabbit 2y ago
    Yoto! looks interesting. My nephew got a Voxblock [0] for Christmas and loves it. Practical and easy. It's not interactive and you can buy an wide collection of audio books (made with recycled cardboard) and listen to it with headphones [0] https://voxblock.co.uk/ https://voxblock.co.uk/
- janetmissed 2y ago
  The most practical/cheap option would probably be an old phone with parental locks and access to a streaming service. It'd be much more functional and cheaper than any dedicated screenless device, and it gives a kid much more autonomy. It's understandable to want to protect kids from predatory algorithms, but music streaming services are probably the least predatory out of all the "big" apps. Also they never stopped making cheap mp3 players, if you want to have complete control over their music discovery
nothercastle 2y ago
There isn’t a good way to give your kids access to music without getting them access to a phone. Since we don’t own music anymore and it’s all streaming it’s only available on devices that are also internet gateways.

14 points by gargs 2y ago

zecg 2y ago

> The only way she can access music is by making me get my phone out and play a song on my Spotify account. I gave my kids Newpipe (that can download .opus files) and VLC (IMO it's clunky as an audio player, but they like it). Occasionally they'll want a full album, so I fire up the ol' Nicotine+ and download it.

empressplay 2y ago

MP3 players aren't hard to find (neither are MP3s for that matter), also used CDs, records, tapes etc, and players for same This article seems to be an answer in search of a question

nothercastle 2y ago
They aren’t hard to find but music discovery is problematic at the 1-5grade. Peers don’t have access so they can’t share music interests. My kid only knows Taylor swift and nothing else. There was a similar article on book discovery failing in the 9 + year old range.

winternett 2y ago

Big industry and Ai companies are flooding the Internet with low-grade music. This is their tactic to holding far better independent music out of view, because if indie music took over, there would be no going back to big industry music. Coupled with social apps like TikTok & Instagram and streaming companies like Spotify not allowing indie artists to grow without paying serious ad money, the larger industry is actively preventing independent music from being heard, and running undercover grifts on artists that aren't making a dime off of their work. When people go to sites like YouTube and Spotify, it's very difficult to find an artists best work, these sites do everything to steer listeners towards big industry music, rather than helping independents to grow. Tech sites are grifting hard working musicians that aren't getting any reimbursement for their work, and there should be more accountability, because we're all being pelted with artificial and weak music as a result. Kids love music, but they literally can't find the best of it anymore because of anti-competitive behavior by tech companies and the big music industry.

j7ake 2y ago
I hope companies like http://www.unitedmasters.com http://www.unitedmasters.com will help change that trend!
- winternett 2y ago
  They've been around for a long time now, just another digital distributor that charges artists to upload music... They're also owned by a major industry entity, the same ones I'm posting about... Hardly a game changer. Major labels strangle independent artists and frustrate them to the point where they'll desperately sign weak big industry contracts and then get popular, but ripped off. The whole industry needs a major reorganization from it's current exploitation model.
DontchaKnowit 2y ago
Honestly I think this is a weird opinion. Tiny, independendant bedroom producers are BLOWING TF UP every single day becayse 5 seconds of their song becomes a tic tok meme. Its a great time for independant artists, financially, and the tech companies are facilitating it, not hindering it.
- winternett 2y ago
  >Tiny, independendant bedroom producers are BLOWING TF UP every single day becayse 5 seconds of their song becomes a tic tok meme. That is a common trope pushed by platforms like TikTok & IG to encourage musicians to work on the platform. TikTok does not help musicians to grow in any way unless they are already very popular (over ~100k followers). If you become a popular artist on TikTok, they invite you to HQ where they assign you a client manager that gives you help in promoting your account, but it comes with a price. Social platforms captures the profit that a musician reaps from using the platform without paying royalties in most cases in reality. The music business now is a broken system of payola if you ask artists that weren't born rich. TikTok is also on the way out as an option as well, as it is supposedly going to be banned in September this year.
tsunagatta 2y ago

Foreignborn 2y ago

Has anyone built a screenless music player for their kids, or perhaps other projects that allow safe, independent exploration without a phone? I'm interested in creating something for my children to discover music beyond my own collection. My kid doesn't have a phone, and so doesn't really have any autonomy in finding and playing music (as the article points out). I recall DIY projects with NFC-enabled printed albums or perhaps using eink tags (though expensive). Maybe I'd hook it up to some api like Bandcamp (or *arr apps if need be).

beAbU 2y ago
iPod?
- galleywest200 2y ago
  Yes, I agree with this poster. Just buy your child an MP3 player, they are still made today and lack internet connectivity. You can buy songs on BandCamp, download the files, and then throw songs on the SD card.
bruceboughton 2y ago
Yes, Yoto! It’s not just for (kids) audiobooks, they have music cards too. And you can upload your own MP3s to their blank cards, or use it as a Bluetooth speaker.
- doublerabbit 2y ago
  Yoto! looks interesting. My nephew got a Voxblock [0] for Christmas and loves it. Practical and easy. It's not interactive and you can buy an wide collection of audio books (made with recycled cardboard) and listen to it with headphones [0] https://voxblock.co.uk/ https://voxblock.co.uk/
janetmissed 2y ago
The most practical/cheap option would probably be an old phone with parental locks and access to a streaming service. It'd be much more functional and cheaper than any dedicated screenless device, and it gives a kid much more autonomy. It's understandable to want to protect kids from predatory algorithms, but music streaming services are probably the least predatory out of all the "big" apps. Also they never stopped making cheap mp3 players, if you want to have complete control over their music discovery

nothercastle 2y ago

There isn’t a good way to give your kids access to music without getting them access to a phone. Since we don’t own music anymore and it’s all streaming it’s only available on devices that are also internet gateways.