The other week the family was watching a couple of episodes of CSI (Miami and NY) and I enjoyed the theme tunes.
- Hitting the button on the Shazam application told me what the tunes were
- Wikipedia gave me more information about the two shows, including details of the themes
- I'd more or less forgotten The Who since Pinball Wizard, but now I could watch them playing these songs on YouTube
- After a week or so, when next the shows came up on the DVR, I went to iTunes and bought the songs - and only those songs, not the whole albums
This is such a change from the day in 2002 when I was sailing onboard a catamaran off the coast of Barbados (I know, it makes you sick!). The crew was serving rum punch and playing 'feel good' music, including Red, red wine. Weeks later, back in England, I strolled past a music store and went in, spur of the moment, looking for the song (something to remember a great day on vacation by).
I left empty-handed because I couldn't find a Bob Marley disc with the song on it. More weeks went by until I stumbled on a knowledgeable sales assistant who reminded me that it was the band UB40 who sang Red, red wine, along with Marley. And I walked out of the store, the proud owner of UB40's Very Best.
Now, fortunately, that's an awesome album, and I pretty much love every song on it. But there's something radical shifted with the power of the internet to supply instant knowledge, and the potential for almost instant gratification of (many) wants, as well as needs.
