One of my favorite parts about Apple Music is the My Favorites Mix. Every Wednesday morning I wake up excited to see what my digital record store employee has curated for me. Generally the playlist is a good mix of everything I like and have listened to in the previous week. There’s some pop, a little alternative and always at least two songs from the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack.
My Favorites Mix has me listening to a lot of the music I’ve collected over the years without forcing me to really think about it. When I was younger I listened to a lot more music. With podcasts, though, my music listening habits have taken a bit of a hit. I have tens of thousands of songs in my iTunes library and it was a little overwhelming trying to figure out what to listen to. Paralyzed by the sheer enormity of my library, I just started listening to podcasts.
Apple Music has given life to my paralysis. Like the paralytic on the mat, I’ve started walking again and listening to music while doing so. Apple Music gives me so many options beyond the My Favorites Mix. It gives me albums and playlists for the day, as well as the opportunity to listen to others’ Favorites Mixes.
Last week I had my podcast cohost, Ron, and my sometimes podcast cohost, Jon, send my their My Favorites Mixes. It was a lot of fun seeing what they had been listening to, the differences and similarities. Ron had a lot more female pop than I was expecting and Jon had some bands that I’d never heard of. Listening to their mixes introduced me to some new music and reminded about some artists I hadn’t heard for a while.
The biggest standout from Jon’s playlist was a cover of “Stand By Me” by Florence + The Machine. It’s from the Final Fantasy XV soundtrack. I wasn’t shocked that Jon had music from a Final Fantasy game on his playlist, but I was shocked by the quality of the song. Normally cover songs suck, especially of a song as iconic as “Stand By Me.” However, Florence + the Machine’s cover is familiar, while still standing on its own.
Music truly is a gift from God. It’s at its best when glorifying God with beauty, quality and originality. Even music that doesn’t overtly glorify God can still be edifying to our souls; it can also help us experience emotions that words alone cannot. I missed having as much music in my life; I’m thankful that technology has brought it back to me.
What streaming service do you use? What do you like about it?
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