There is something special about sharing music with your friends, from back in the day of creating that mixtape to now making it a digital mix. We always feel the need to force that new song, new artist or new record onto our friends. It doesn’t always go down well though as the person receiving it is always caught off guard … but what about if they knew they would be getting a new song given to them? Would the outcome change?
In 2005 some colleagues and I started what was called ‘Song of the Day’. The simple idea was for each person to take it a day at a time and send around their ‘Song of the Day’. The whole idea is to share the music we love, either an artist we all knew, one you just discovered or a song that would sum up your current mood. Unlike like Fight Club, we could talk about ‘Song of the Day’ club and there was one other rule: Send the song on your day. Between the three of us we enjoyed this process for many months, before one of the ‘Three Amigos’ moved overseas. The time difference caused confusion on what day to send the track through, at this stage three became two.
Fast forward a few months and the movement evolved into a less time restrictive setup and became what it is now: Song of the Week. Rather than a single song being sent through by one person, it became that everybody involved sent that single song at the end of each week.
Now after all these years my close musical minded buddy coreyj and I still send through out ‘Song of the Week’ to each other. The song to sum up our working week, sum up our mood, to share that funk/soul/alt country band we discovered. It is all about saying something about your life, through others music. With the track attached and a small reason for why this song was included, you end up with something that you can look forward to at the end of each week.
I really encourage you to find that muscial friend to share your music with, choose a day and share the tunes. We have kept our day as Friday for just over four years now, it is the light at the end of the working week tunnel. The song that gets you in the mood for the weekend, and forget about the week that was.
For me this has introduced me to many new artists I would have never given the time of day to before. Doing this with somebody who has such a varied musical taste like me has also been just as important. Take last week for example, there was a mixture of Buckshot Lefonque and Bridezilla. Wouldn’t be every week where these tracks would follow each other on a persons playlist right? If you love music for all the right reasons, not just to listen to ‘what is hot right now’ then do this. Music is about more than a catchy beat, its about being the soundtrack to your life. Yes, tell me that sounds ‘wanky’ but it is. People often let music just play in the background, bring it to the front, share it and tell your friends about it. By you sharing what is important to you, you are in turn sharing a part of your life with the people that matter to you.
So as it is Friday, here is this weeks ‘Song of the Week’. A new band I’ve discovered simply through my love of Wolf Parade and the greatest music recommendation site, last.fm.
Johnny and the Moon - When You’re All Alone
If I have inspired you to join the movement, and share the love, let me know. I would love to hear how it turns out.
Sunky
