Pitch for Grooveshark

I have to start off by saying that music has had a deep and profound effect on my life for as long as I can remember. My mother once told me that she listened to a lot of R&B and soul music when she was pregnant with me, which certainly explains my adoration for Marvin Gaye and the Stylistics, in particular. As it turns out though, that was only the beginning.

I know that a lot of people claim to listen to a lot of different music. I often hear people say to me, “I listen to everything”, which may very well be true for them. Indeed, I too claim to listen to “a lot” of music as well. (For the list of what that means to me, please see my list of favorite music blog entry.) My mental music database, as anyone can see, is certainly not as expansive as many others out there, but I still like to think that I listen to a lot of music. I suppose it’s a lot like being a fish in the ocean; there’s always a bigger fish out there.

Anyhow, I bring this all up because I want to express my gratitude to the Grooveshark application. Since I’ve been on Grooveshark, I have listened to and bought more music than ever before. I did Pandora for awhile, We Are Hunted, and countless other “streaming” music types of sites, and I suppose that it’s a case of “to each his own”, but I have to say that Grooveshark is by far my favorite and has stood the test of time. I attribute my deep appreciation to its simplicity and accessibility. I can think of a song and literally pull it and add it to a playlist. I do this same thing with my music at home or on my iPods. I build playlists and then constantly delete or add to them. In the case of Grooveshark, whenever I find new music, I pull it, check it out, and then invariably, I buy the CD on Amazon. This has worked most recently with Widowspeak. I heard a song from them on a TV show one night (American Horror Stories), and then I ran to Grooveshark and listened to their latest. They had me at hello.

I love buying music, supporting artists, and holding a real CD in my hands, but that is a topic for another blog. If you love music too, I recommend Grooveshark, and no, I don’t work for them. I simply throw props and shout-outs to companies that still have good service and do good business. Does my music list stack up? Let me know what you think.