Bringing back the iPod and intentional music listening

The year was 2009, I was working every weekend to save up for a blue iPod Nano, I was so excited for it. I finally had enough to buy myself one and load it with all of my CDs and downloads. I was a happy gal. Flash forward 17 or so years… and now we have every song ever in the safety of our pocket to be downloaded in seconds for the price of a monthly subscription. Streaming services are great, I love Spotify, but I recently found myself wondering… what about my iPod?

I love listening to music on my record player, having the tactile experience of selecting the record I want to listen to and putting it on the player. It’s such a fulfilling experience, as is shopping for new records at fairs and slowly building my collection. I remembered having a similar experience when buying music for my iPod back in the day, it always feels more enjoyable and rewarding to listen to something you’ve bought too. 

Having access to such a vast selection of music so easily is amazing, but also somewhat overwhelming. Music streaming platforms are ran my algorithms that tell us help us decide what to listen to, whereas an iPod is just your music that you have consciously chosen to upload to it. Having playlists created for you and recommended music once your album ends is awesome because it means the tunes never stop, it’s a great way to find new music too. But sometimes I like the idea of just vibing to the songs I’ve bought and am hyped to listen to. 

A few days ago I decided to see if my old blue iPod Nano had any juice left in it. After ordering a new charging cable and a bit of back and forth to restore the device, it booted up and let me load on my music! It was such a throwback to browse my old iTunes downloads, I don’t think I’ve bought any new music since around 2013. I redownloaded anything I thought I’d still enjoy listening to and bought a few new albums too like Coldplay’s Moon Music, DJO’s The Crux and WILLOW’s ceremonial contrafact. 

I wasn’t too sure how the battery would hold up having been in a box under my bed for quite a while and unfortunately it only lasts an hour or so before running out. The battery icon doesn’t accurately reflect how long is left either so whilst it’s been good for a throwback listen, it’s not a sustainable for long-term listening. So. I’ve been browsing modded iPod options online, there are some really cool mods out there, some really expensive ones too. People have gone as far as to change the charging ports and add bluetooth transmitters to the device. iPod Classics seem to be the one to go for with mod options easily available with secondhand devices. Apple themselves have stopped selling iPods or supporting them, so secondhand options are the only way to go. I came across a really good deal on eBay for an iPod Classic 128GB SSD with a brand new battery so of course I clicked order! 

After a few days of waiting I have my hands on my modded iPod Classic and I am so excited to load it up with all of my songs, new and old. It feels exciting to be browsing the iTunes Store again (yes it still exists, it’s just part of the Apple Music app), picking what I want to buy feels even more special and it’s nice to know I’m owning those albums, all be it digitally. 

Let’s see how this new music listening journey goes, I’ll be sure to post back a few more listens in!