So I’m prepping for my first wedding gig of the season and decided I need to expand my music library a bit. I could use some more country and classic wedding ceremony songs. (You can never have enough music as a DJ.)
Normally I would go online to Amazon or iTunes for these type of songs, but instead I got in my car and drove to the nearest Hastings. (If you don’t know Hastings, they sell new and used books, cd’s, movies, games, etc.) It took me back to my high school years in Lewiston, ID, circa 1996-97, when I first started buying large quantities of music, specifically CD’s. I have to admit I was an addict! I would spend part of my afternoons digging through the vast wall of wire racks looking for the best tracks for the best price. This was before I knew I wanted to be a full-time DJ. I thank the gods for this shopping habit, because it was great having all that music when I decided to branch out from DJing only EDM (Electronic Dance Music).
Now that I have a daughter and a busy life I couldn’t spend as much time shuffling through the random assortment of used music. I did manage to score some good deals though. I found a 3 Disc set of classic love songs for only $5.99. (Oh man, my younger self would laugh at me now for that last sentence!) I did notice that my music buying habits have changed though. I don’t tend to buy full-length albums anymore. For me it’s all about getting the best songs. Where I used to buy Busta Rhyme’s or Green Day’s new album, for example, now I look for the compilations with their tracks or even their greatest hits.
Like I mentioned, this nostalgic shopping trip was more about business and less about personal use, but either way I had a great time. Will I be making the trip to Hastings? Definitely, but I don’t think on a regular basis. I still like the convenience of downloads. Plus I’m now stuck with a stack of plastic that I’ll never use again (see photo above) now that I’ve imported the songs to my computer! I guess I’ll just have to sell them back…
– Eric