It only occurred to me relatively recently just how used I have become to carrying all my music with me. And by ‘all’ I mean just that. The point was brought home to me, rather forcefully I might add, thanks to someone who saw fit to put my car out of action when I found myself driving around in a rental car.

What does this have to do with my music? A lot, as it turns out, given that said car lacks the necessary equipment that allows me to plug in my iPod or smartphone, both of which give me access to practically my entire music library.

No big deal in the general scheme of things, of course, particularly as I should be focusing on feeling thankful that the aforementioned someone didn’t also put me out of action, together with my car (and I am, I promise).

Still, the incident did set me thinking about what a difference a couple of decades made to the music situation.

I do remember a time when the mere fact that I could listen to a tape on my walkman (yep, I’m that old), filled me with wondrous joy. What was this magic that I keep some of my favourite songs with me, always?

Then the cassette tape saga started. Anyone remember just how bulky and expensive cassette tapes were back then? Well, five of the old Maltese liri is pretty expensive for a 13-year-old. Not to mention just how unreliable they were – carrying pencils around in order to shove the unruly tape back in its place was the norm.

Retro doesn’t even start

CD were next. Just as expensive and just as wieldy to carry around, although considerably more reliable. I do remember carrying around bagfuls of CDs with me, but it was far from having all my music with me.

Then came the iPod and other MP3 players, followed by Youtube, Vimeo, Soundcloud and, finally, Spotify. The age of the MP3 player signified a massive turning point in my life. My first iPod cost a fortune (you could pretty much justify taking a loan to get one in those days) and had the maximum amount of storage available – a previously unheard of 10GB worth of music. My brain nearly exploded.

Improvements were made, different brands started compet-ing and, nowadays, it’s un-thinkable that you’d have anything less than your entire music collection stored in your pockets. But even this doesn’t compete with the infinite possibilities offered by cyberspace. Because now, of course, I don’t only have access to my personal library, but also to that of everyone else.

This was somewhat true even when we were limited to YouTube, Soundcloud and the like, but now that we also have portals like Spotify available the potential is infinite.

For someone like me, who is constantly looking for new music and who literally presses play upon waking (not kidding), the significance of this is no joke. Whereas many check that they have car keys and wallet before going out, I check car keys, MP3 player and smartphone. One or the other is invariably plugged into my car system.

Well, not until I get my car back. These past two weeks it’s been a constant hunting for my old favourite CDs, ferrying them to the car and praying to goodness that they still work. Most of them do. The upside is that I’ve been revisiting old favourites that I haven’t listened to in a while. Retro doesn’t even start.

ramona.depares@timesofmalta.com