I'm born in the spring of 1981. In early 1990, I started listening to my dad's records and CDs, and also to the Dutch children's music group 'Kinderen Voor Kinderen'. By late 1990, I had their brand-new 11th album.   ✱   In mid-1991 I started listening to contemporary non-children's music - mainly dance back then. T99 - Anastacia (Scirocco Edit) was one of the key tracks much loved in the very early days.

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RADIO

A lot, preferring 'Veronica' at the Dutch public youth station 'Radio 3'. You can find many old radio favorites in the pic/sound sections below. Veronica, TROS and Avro were all broadcasting companies presenting shows at Radio 3. Our Dutch public broadcasting system is quite complicated.   ✱   I also wanted to try youth stations like Power FM and Radio 538, but I couldn't pick them up.

⟶  Pic 1: An advertisement featuring the Veronica djs. Pic 2: The Radio 3 schedule. Complicated, as I said earlier. Pic 3: An article about Radio 3, published in the Dutch music magazine 'Oor'. Pic 4: The Radio 3 team, published in the Dutch teen magazine 'Tina'. Pic 5: Some Power FM related stuff, for those being able to listen to it at the time. Pic 6: Some early Radio 538 related stuff (same comment).

⟶  Sound 1: A Radio 3 commercial, broadcast in spring 1993. Sound 2: The Dutch Top 40, by Veronica at Radio 3 in early 1992. Sound 3: The show 'Rinkeldekinkel, by Veronica at Radio 3 (1992/1993). Host: Jeroen van Inkel. Sound 4: Rave Radio, by Veronica at Radio 3 (March 1993). Sound 5: Dance Trax, a dance/house show by 'TROS' at Radio 3 (1992). Sound 6: For Those Who Like To Groove, a dance/house show by 'Avro' at Radio 3 (September 1992). Sound 7: Several fragments of the after-school show 'The Magic Friends', broadcast on Radio 3 (1992/1993). Sound 8: More fragments of the same show (May 1993), broadcast on Radio 3 and fairly recently found. Ray and Anita were guests there. Unfortunately, the sound quality is poor.

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PLAYING/BUYING MUSIC

I was home taping a lot, I borrowed many compilation CDs from the local library (also home taped), and from time to time I bought a CD or a CD maxi single. But they were often on the expensive side for me.

You can find some names of prominent compilation CD series in the pic section below.

⟶  Pic 1: House Party compilation. Pic 2: (Early) Mega Dance compilation. Pic 3: Move The House compilation. Pic 4: Now Dance compilation. Pic 5: Techno Trance compilation. Pic 6: Turn Up The Bass compilation. Pic 7: A 'The Greatest Hits' compilation. Pic 8: A much played compilation not belonging to one of the big series, picked up on a whim some months after the release (it was cheap). Pic 9: The way many of those compilations (particularly the ones released by the Dutch record company Arcade) were displayed. Sound: Some commercials for compilation CDs, dating from 1993 and fairly recently found. The file also includes a 'Radio 3 Megahit' jingle. Unfortunately, the sound quality is poor.

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MAGAZINES, CHART SHEETS

Teen magazines like Hitkrant often wrote about music. I read them a lot. And every week I went to the record store to pick up the newest Top 40/Mega Top 50 chart sheet. This was the pre-internet era.

⟶  Pic 1: A Hitkrant cover, starring 2 Unlimited. Pic 2: A Top 40 chart sheet. Pic 3: Parts of various Mega Top 50 chart sheets.

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FANDOM

I was a huge 2 Unlimited fan; only two singles were needed for that. Their single No limit was a youth classic, and both the 'Get ready' and 'No limits' albums were played to death.   ✱   Below I've added old pics (up to Faces) - usable as a kind of a moodboard, for those looking for fashion inspiration for an MTV era party. Hats, earrings, wigs, eyeliner, etcetera. Main sources: fan accounts on social media + YouTube.

⟶  Pic 1: Some Get ready for this/Twilight zone era images. Pic 2: Some Workaholic/Magic friend era images. Pic 3: Some No limit/Tribal dance/Faces era images. Pic 4: An advertisement for the single 'No limit'.

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OLD VERSUS RECENT MUSIC

I was very focused on recent releases, although some pre mid-1991 songs were also played; mostly danceable and released from around 1987 onwards.

These are some examples of delayed late-80s-to-mid-1991 joy. I remember playing them a lot back then, probably after hearing them on Radio 3 and slightly older compilations, like the first 13/14 TUTB CDs.

• 2 Brothers On The 4th Floor - I can't help myself
• 2 In A Room - Wiggle it
• The Adventures Of Stevie V - Dirty cash (Money talks) ····· Sold Out 7 Inch Mix
• Betty Boo - Doin' the do
• C&C Music Factory - Gonna make you sweat
• Chad Jackson - Hear the drummer (Get wicked) ····· Radio Edit
• DNA ft. Suzanne Vega - Tom's diner
• Double Trouble/Rebel MC - Just keep rockin'
• Inxs - Need you tonight (another genre and a bit more 80s)
• Mel & Kim - Respectable / Get fresh (at the weekend) (also high energy, but more 80s sounding)
• Nomad - (I wanna give you) devotion
• Papa San - Dancehall good to we
• Raymond Van Het Groenewoud - Liefde voor muziek (yes, another genre)
• Rebel MC - Better world
• Rob 'n Raz ft. Leila K - Got to get
• Snap! - The power
• Technotronic - Pump up the jam

Some old disco classics (like Boney M - Ma Baker and Foxy - Get off) and danceable Madonna hits were also appreciated.

As said before, these were my high school years. Music-wise it was a steady era, clearly dominated by happy-go-lucky music.

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RADIO

Radiowise, I listened mainly to Radio 538 and Radio 3FM (since 538 was often hard to receive), along with local pirate stations that played a lot of dance music. In 1997/1998, I also tuned in to the local dance-focused station Radio Atlantis/Channel X.

⟶  Pic 1: A Radio 538 advertisement. Pic 2: A longread about Radio 3 FM, published in the Dutch music magazine 'Oor'. Sound: Radio Atlantis/Channel X, 1997/1998.

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PLAYING/BUYING MUSIC

This era was still filled with home taping, complete with self-made ballpoint-pen cover art. Besides home taping, I also borrowed CDs from the local library, and sometimes I bought them. Most of those were compilation CDs. In the pics section below you can find some prominent names.

⟶  Pic 1: A ballpoint-pen cover of a tape recorded late in this era. Pic 2: Now Dance Hits compilation. Pic 3: Mega Dance compilation. Pic 4: Yabba Dabba Dance compilation. Pic 5: Club Trance compilation. Pic 5: Another much played one, not belonging to a series: Mega Music Dance Experience 1995. Pic 6: Where to buy those? Maybe at the Free Record Shop, which was the biggest music chain in the Netherlands at the time.

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BUYING AUDIO EQUIPMENT

If you needed new audio equipment, maybe you bought it at one of the shops below. Online shopping didn’t exist yet.

⟶  Pic 1: Ben van Dijk was a huge (multiple football fields) store selling CDs, audio equipment and a lot more. If you lived in/near the Dutch village Uden in the 1990s (like me) and wanted to buy a new mini system or discman, you probably bought it here. The store looked like an audiovisual heaven, and quintessentially 90s. Pic 2: At Kijkshop, a general retail chain, items were displayed in display cases. To make a purchase, you noted the item’s number on a slip of paper and brought it to the cashier. You can’t tell from the pic, but back in the 90s this chain also sold a wide range of audio equipment. My Philips mini system (CD, FM radio, double cassette deck) was bought there. Pic 3: Buying your gear at BCC was also an option. Similar chain stores: It's, Dixons, Scheer & Foppen and De Harense Smid.

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MUSIC TELEVISION, MAGAZINES

TMF, the main Dutch music video station, was also important. It was our Dutch alternative for MTV, and I could watch it for hours. Besides that I still read a lot of teen magazines, like Hitkrant, Popfoto/Fancy and Yes, partly writing about music.   ✱   In the latter part of high school I got internet. The dial-up version with the famous modem bleeps, provided by WorldOnline.

⟶  Pic 1: An article about TMF, published by the Dutch music magazine 'Oor'. Pic 2: An article about the 'happy hardcore' act Party Animals, published by the Dutch teen magazine 'Hitkrant'. Pic 3: This screenshot (World Of Techno, 2 Unlimited) shows wat personal home pages looked like in 1997. Pic 4: Another screenshot from the same site.

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FANDOM

In the first part of the era I was still a 2 Unlimited fan, although I preferred the first two albums over Real things. After that period, I was never a real fan of one specific artist anymore, though I did play some albums a lot.

⟶  Pic 1: An interview with Ray and Anita about the album Real things, published in 'Free Magazine'. Pic 2: Some fashion inspiration for your next 90s party, taken from fan accounts on social media + YouTube.

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TEENAGE NIGHTLIFE

Most of these songs were played in the local discotheques. You can find a few of the ones I used to go to in the pics section. The pics show the rural version of the average Dutch mid/late 90s nightlife. In rural areas large multi-hall complexes were common. The big ones had a 'disco bus' to bring people there and back. I was 16/17 years old at the time.

⟶  Pic 1: De Morgenzon, a mainstream multi-hall complex located in the Dutch village Zeeland. Pic 2: Kobus, an alternative pub/discotheque. It was located in the same village. Pic 3: Lunenburg, which was similar to De Morgenzon.

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OLD VERSUS RECENT MUSIC

I was very focused on recent releases, although there was also older music played, which was mostly danceable and released from around 1987 onwards.

⟶  Pic: In 1994 I bought this 'Greatest Dance Album of the World' compilation filled with (fairly) old dance tracks.

Around September 2000, the internet became highly influential. Internet radio and discussion boards played a big role. My musical taste started to change - still largely dance-oriented, but more mature. During the first +/- six months of this era it was still mixed with the Belgian, C-Dance–style influences of the previous years.

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DISCOVERING INTERNET RADIO

Anyway, the changes really began around September 2000, with the discovery of internet radio. Dancenet - later renamed DanceRadioOne - was my first real introduction. Early and influential tracks I discovered there included Daft Punk - 'One More Time', Étienne de Crécy - 'Am I Wrong', and David Morales - 'Needin' U' (vocal version).   ✱   Alongside Dancenet, I listened to Pro FM from 2003 onwards. The station played accessible dance, disco, and Italo.

⟶  Pic 1: This is what the Dancenet website looked like. At a later stage, the site was renamed DanceRadioOne. Sound: Fragments of Dancenet, back then. Pic 2: A screenshot of the Pro FM site.

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INTERNET BECOMING REALLY IMPORTANT

Around the same time, I discovered online discussion boards - a general one and a dance-focused forum with very serious discussions about music.   ✱   I also uploaded my first website. It had Tripodnet in the URL. This marked the beginning of a long string of personal websites, often experimental in design and frequently music-related. My online presence was fairly high-profile (to be honest: too much).   ✱   Not long after those first sites, I started downloading music using P2P file-sharing programs such as Audiogalaxy and Kazaa Lite, eventually burning the results to CD.   ✱   All of this happened within a very short time span. Getting broadband internet was like giving a five-year-old a huge bag of sweets. Due to increasingly expensive phone bills, broadband internet was installed in early 2001.   ✱   Late in the era, the file-sharing program 'Soulseek' joined the list.

⟶  Pic 1: The Dutch discussion board 'Fok!forum'. This was a general one. Pic 2: The dance-focused online discussion board 'Clubcharts', also Dutch. Pic 3: Screenshots of the Tripodnet site. Pic 4: The file-sharing program 'Audiogalaxy', the very first one used here. Pic 5: The file-sharing program 'Soulseek'.

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PLAYING/BUYING MUSIC

During this era, listening to music was (alongside radio) a mix of buying compilation CDs and burning my own (from early 2002 onwards), using tracks downloaded from Audiogalaxy, Kazaa, and/or Soulseek. The bought compilations were a bit more 'all over the place' now, although Hed Kandi was a fairly big name. I liked both the music and the artwork.   ✱   Towards the end of this era, I bought my first MP3 player: the Creative MuVo V100.

⟶  Pic 1: A C-Dance compilation, bought around November 2000. There were still some Belgian dance influences left. Pic 2: The compilation CDs Booom! 4 (Spring 2001) and Booom 5! (Summer 2001), maybe the last typical 'chart dance' compilations I bought new. Both, especially nr. 4, were played a lot. Pic 3: Compilation CDs I burned myself, with artwork partly modeled after the CDs in pic 2. If there were enough tracks I liked, I'd burn a new one. Pic 4: A Hed Kandi compilation from 2000, which I bought in 2002 or 2003. Pic 5: The Creative MuVo V100 MP3 player.

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REGULAR RADIO

Alongside internet radio, I also listened to regular FM stations such as ID&T Radio (dance) and 3FM, our national public youth radio station. Sadly, there was only one place to listen to internet radio at the time: the computer in the living room.

⟶  Pic 1: A screenshot of the ID&T Radio site. Sound: Fragments of ID&T Radio, around 2003. Pic 3: An advertisement for 3FM and a longread about the same station.

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READING PRINT MAGAZINES

Too many & all over the place. It could be almost anything, ranging from glossy girl magazines to deadly serious music stuff. Some of the magazines I read in those days were dance-oriented, like Bassic Groove and ID&T Magazine. Below are links to a few articles that say a lot about that era.

⟶  Pic 1: A longread about the 'lounge' hype, scanned from Free Record Shop's free magazine 'Free'. Pic 2: A longread about the Dutch ID&T imperium (Nieuwe Revu). Pic 3: An article published in 'Oor' about electroclash. It's never been my cup of tea, but it's typical for that era. Pic 4: A longread about downloading MP3s from ID&T Magazine.

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OLD VERSUS RECENT MUSIC

I was strongly focused on recent releases; it was the period when I followed new music most intensively - perhaps even too much. Older tracks were played as well, mostly danceable, released from around 1987 onwards. These felt more mature and, in that sense, close in spirit to the recent tracks I played.   ✱   Anyway - In general, I was obsessively downloading and trying out tracks, both new releases and slightly older ones.

⟶  Pic: Self-made compilations (2003/2004) containing older dance tracks. I also bought 'Back to love' CDs, released by Hed Kandi.

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FROM 2004 TO 2005

By late 2004, keeping up with too much music had caused a kind of mental short-circuit, leaving me with little desire to listen to music for several months. Buying my first MP3 player in the latter part of 2004 didn't help. That's where that ambient stream 'Cryosleep' (pointed out in the next chapter) came in, early in 2005 --> Referring to the line about the 'bag of sweets' somewhere above.

The first months of 2005 were relatively quiet. --> Referring to the 'from 2004 to 2005' lines earlier on this page. I often listened to a serene ambient stream.

Anyway: This was a messy in-between phase, a kind of bridge between what came before and what followed. Taste-wise, the years up to 2004 (my 'core' dance years) now feels like the past.   ✱   2005, on the other hand, already hinted at the present. I was searching, started playing a lot more non-danceable music, and also music that was already a bit older. In that sense, the floodgates opened - and at the same time I enjoyed music in a more relaxed 'go with the flow' way.   ✱   Back then I didn't really have a clue, but in hindsight the music I played became calmer and more subtle.

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FAVORITE INTERNET RADIO STATIONS: UNDERGROUND FG

I started listening to internet radio more and more, at the expense of of regular FM stations. The number of stations I tuned into grew significantly, and the French dance station Underground FG was an important one.

⟶  Sound 1: Underground FG, recorded December 2004/January 2005. I don't know the exact moment anymore, but it's definitely a very early recording, made shortly after discovering the station. Despite exploring +/- 1001 genres, this station (playing minimal, deephouse, electro, techhouse, etcetera) was very influential, with it's - again - relatively subtle feel. It alternated DJ mix and playlist hours. Pic 1: The site of Underground FG. Pic 2: A compilation CD with tracks that got a lot of airplay on that station. I bought that one.

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FAVORITE INTERNET RADIO STATIONS: OTHERS

I also listened to the stations in the sounds/pics section below. For people who didn’t listen to these stations, these pics still provide a snapshot of the era. Most links are screenshot, * = something else.

⟶  Sound 2: Pro FM, a station playing dance, disco and Italo.* Pic 1: The ambient radio station Cryosleep, discovered in early 2005. At first it functioned as background sound for me, before I began actively searching for tracks from it. Pic 2: The PBB site. This was the station of the famous French DJ Laurent Garnier. Pic 3: The French house/disco station KIF. Sound 3: Some KIF sounds, back then.* Pic 4: There were some Soma FM stations I liked: Groove Salad, Drone Zone, Illinois Street Lounge - and sometimes I tried Cliqhop. This was their site in that era. Not much has changed about it. Pic 5: Studio Brussel, the public Belgian youth station. Pic 6: A couple of articles about KX Radio, a Dutch freeform station featuring many famous DJs/media personalities. Rob Stenders was the big boss there.* Pic 7: Radio 0511, playing 60s and 70s music. Especially around 2007 I listened a lot to this station. Pic 8: Planet 90 - back then a fun, quirky station. When it launched in early 2005, its database contained the entire Dutch Top 40 of the 1990s, and you could request any track - no matter how obscure or extreme. People definitely took advantage of that. The station still exists today, but the more extreme tracks have been removed and it now focuses mainly on dance music.

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USING A FM TRANSMITTER

In mid-2005, I got a FM transmitter to spread the sound of internet radio throughout the house. The man behind Pro FM had an online music shop, where he sold them (still thanks!). The transmitter was pretty basic, but also a very useful tool. It made discovering music easier.

⟶  Pic: My FM transmitter.

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HOW TO ID TRACKS?

Despite/because of new ways to play music, identifying tracks was often a challenge. I relied less and less on mainstream sources, Shazam didn’t exist yet, and internet radio stations rarely published playlists back then. So track ID became a creative exercise, with mixed results: for example posting snippets on a French discussion board, while I didn't speak French.

⟶  Pic: Clubxtrem, one of the French discussion boards used to identify tracks.

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ALSO HAPPENING ONLINE

I spent time on discussion boards and created personal home pages. They focused on music. And I wrote a weekly music review for Profm.nl, one of the internet radio stations I listened to regularly. Compared to the era before it all felt more low-key though; My online presence went from rather high-profile to fairly low-profile. Around 2003 I may have taken it a bit too far.

⟶  Pic 1: The music section of the Dutch discussion board Fok!forum. Pic 2: Screenshots of Musicmeter, the Dutch version of 'Rate Your Music'. Pic 3: An own site, created by myself.

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REGULAR RADIO

Listening to regular FM radio gradually became less frequent. It usually only happened when internet radio wasn't available or was too cumbersome, or when the batteries in my FM transmitter were empty. I liked the dance show 'Ministry of Beats' at 3FM though.

⟶  Pic 1: An interview with Florent Luyckx, once the big man behind the public station 3FM, back in the days one of the prominent Dutch stations. Pic 2: The 3FM site in 2005. Sound: A Ministry Of Beats recording promoting 'urban eclectic' mixing, recorded early in 2005. Host: Edwin Diergaarde. To be honest, the kind of 'look at me being cool and hip' vibe surrounding this trend (something even intriguing me two years prior to this era) wasn’t my cup of tea anymore, but the music itself was influential. Around the same time, I also bought a compilation from the year before, 'ACE: An Urban Eclectic Experience', which felt quite similar to this mix. Sound 2: Another Ministry Of Beats fragment, recorded in 2006.

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READING PRINT MAGAZINES

Back then, my magazine reading habits were still all over the place. I liked almost everything, from thick, glossy magazines to free magazines printed on a kind of newsprint paper - very popular around 2006. Those free publications were found in record stores, clothing shops, bars, and similar places. Some titles: Dj Broadcast, Glamcult, 010, 020, etcetera. Their content was at least partly about music.

⟶  Pic: The cover of a Dj Broadcast edition.

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OLD VERSUS RECENT / PLAYING AND BUYING (GENERAL)

I was less busy following recent releases (I still burned and bought CDs containing recent tracks though), and played much older music; like said earlier. 'Older' changed into 'months, years or decades ago' instead of 'mostly released from around 1987 onwards'.   ✱   And much guitar/alternative music from the 90s (in the past tolerated when played on the radio, but seldom recorded on cassette) suddenly was played. Better late than never.

⟶  Pic 1: CDs featuring recent tracks. Some of those were bought, others were burned. Pic 2: CDs containing tracks that were already a bit older at the time. Again: some of those were bought, others were burned.

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BUYING SECOND HAND CDS

A continuation of the previous lines. --> Despite playing a lot more music predating the late 80s, this was also the era of collecting ultra cheap second hand CDs of the late 80s and 90s - in the past often borrowed from the library. The entire Turn Up The Bass series, House Party 1 to 7 and many others.   ✱   To collect those second-hand CDs, I visited a lot of shops: sometimes online ('Marktplaats'), but most were brick-and-mortar stores. Unfortunately some would soon shut their doors. I also visited flea markets.   ✱   Some relatively prominent places are in the pics section below. For people who didn’t visit these places, the pics still capture the spirit of the time.

⟶  Pic 1: Some stuff related to the record store 'House Of Sounds' in s-Hertogenbosch. Pic 2: Record store 'Boembox' in Rotterdam. Pic 3: A small pic from record store 'Plaatboef' in The Hague. Pic 4: MediaMarkt, back in the days. Pic 5: Een Twee CD and Aad's Platenzaak, both in Tilburg. Pic 6: CdTeek in Eindhoven. Pic 7: An article about record store 'Tommy' in Tilburg closing down. It wasn't a personal favorite, but the story is typical of the era from around 2007 onwards. Pic 8: The 'Snuffelmarkt', a monthly flea market at the Brabanthallen in ’s-Hertogenbosch. Pic 9: The Dutch online marketplace 'Marktplaats.nl', which was focussing on second hand stuff.

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OTHER CD STORES

A couple of stores to buy new CDs, back in the days:

⟶  Pic 1: Bullit in Eindhoven. Pic 2: Rare Records in Eindhoven, focussing on dance music.

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MORE ABOUT PLAYING MUSIC

I didn’t play a lot of full (artist) albums back then, but Pete Philly & Perquisite's Mindstate left a real mark on me with its laid-back feel. I remember buying it at Mediamarkt, which was a major spot for CDs at the time.

⟶  Pic: An article about the 'Mindstate' album by Pete Philly & Perquisite.

Compared to the previous era, my preferences became clearer and everything began to fall into place. Sonically, this period was relatively soft, and the overall mood was fairly passive and nonchalant, partly due to health issues.

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INFLUENTIAL INTERNET RADIO/SHOWS

When it came to that softer feel there were some important and influential radio stations and individual shows. At the tail end of 2007 I already discovered some jazz influenced stuff, appearing on a chart provided by KX Radio. Shortly after that I discovered Lefto's Studio Brussel show, followed by more. You can find those sources and influences in the pics & sounds section below.

⟶  Sound 1: A bumper hourly broadcast by FIP, around 2009. This was a heavily influential station, discovered in the late 00s. Sound 2: Fragments of 'De Hop' at Studio Brussel, spring 2008. The show was presented by the Belgian DJ Lefto. Pic 1: A screenshot of the site of Laid Back Radio. I often listened to this Belgian and near-professional Radionomy station. Pic 2: The site of the French radio station Nova. I really liked this busy design - and I still do.

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MORE INTERNET RADIO: RADIONOMY

There was also the phenomenon of Radionomy, which hosted thousands of amateur and near-professional radio stations, mainly French or Walloon. You could create your own station for free - excluding the cost of purchasing music and producing any jingles.   ✱   The platform offered a lot of nice stations. Some favorites are in the pics section below.

⟶  Pic 1: A screenshot of the page (+ a playlist) of a very active Radionomy creator. I liked his stations. The 'formats' were in the vein of FIP and Nova. Pic 2: Laid Back Radio's playlist page on the Radionomy site. This station was mentioned earlier. Pic 3: Bolz Radio on the Radionomy site. Pic 4: AlternativeRadio on the Radionomy site. Pic 5: The site of Double XX. This station sounded noticeably different. While the the previously mentioned stations leaned toward a FIP or Nova-style sound, Double XX embraced a late-80s/early-90s dance format. It still exists today. Pic 6: Some discussion about Double XX.

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OTHER INTERNET RADIO STATIONS

Besides the stations mentioned above, there are quite a few others I enjoyed a lot. Those stations don't really fit the paragraphs above.

⟶  Pic 1: An article about KX Radio, published in the Dutch magazine Nieuwe Revu. Pic 2: Chérie FM, featuring 'Summer Hits' and others. Pic 3: The Studio Brussel site; these are some 'De Hop' related messages. That show, presented by Lefto, was mentioned earlier. Pic 4: Soma FM. I liked Groove Salad, Drone Zone and Illinois Street Lounge. I even searched for compilation CDs containing that type of 50s/60s exotica.

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MORE INTERNET RADIO

I also installed Wi-Fi and bought my first standalone internet radio (and after a while a second one). Especially when I didn't feel well, it was perfect: discovering nice music without much effort. Compared to the FM transmitter it was a lot easier to use.

⟶  Pic 1: The Grundig RRCD3760, my first standalone internet radio. This radio was huge. Pic 2: An important 'aggregator' back in the days was VTuner. The pic shows a screenshot of the website.

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READING ABOUT MUSIC ONLINE

I still visited discussion boards, partly about music. I regularly read music blogs, including KindaMuzik, which was fairly famous in The Netherlands. Another one was MusicFrom. In 2010 I joined Twitter, and from time to time I tweeted something about music. I didn't own a smartphone yet.

⟶  Pic 1: A blog by a train passenger reflecting on the changing zeitgeist, for example the introduction of iPhones. Music-related? Indirectly, if you read through the lines. Pic 2: A screenshot of a funny story (subject: Caro Emerald) on MusicFrom, sourced from the Internet Archive. Although some visual elements didn’t survive, it still captures the look and feel of old-school music blogs.

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READING PRINT MAGAZINES

Around 2009, most music-related articles I read were already being published online. I still read plenty of print magazines, though these were mostly general-interest or women's magazines. The free magazines that had flourished in the previous era were nearly gone by then. The Dutch music magazine Oor, however, was still around, and from time to time I'd come across solid music writing in other publications as well - such as my TV guide (VaraGids), Nieuwe Revu, and others.

⟶  Pic: An article reflecting on the 2000s, published in 'Oor' near the end of the decade.

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PERSONAL MUSIC SITES

I created personal music sites but in a fairly low-key way. From the early 2010s onwards, I started to become more actively involved with it again.

⟶  Pic 1: My music site in 2008. Pic 2: Another site of mine, created in spring 2010.

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REGULAR RADIO

Listening to FM radio mostly happened when listening to internet radio wasn't possible.   ✱   At the end of the year I tuned in to the annual 'Top 2000' at the Dutch public radio station NPO Radio 2. The edition of 2008 was the first edition I really paid attention to.

⟶  Pic 1: Dutch radio schedules, printed from the TV guide 'VaraGids' (October 2008). Pic 2: An article about the Dutch public youth station 3FM, also published in the 'VaraGids'.

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OLD VERSUS RECENT / PLAYING AND BUYING (GENERAL)

Alongside new releases, I discovered quite a few older tracks (months, year or decades old), similar to the previous era - featuring more guitars than the recent tracks I was playing at the time. That period was marked by the highly contrived 'indie voice', a sound you'd hear not only in guitar bands but also in more electronic music, like electroclash. It never really appealed to me.   ✱   This period felt the most blurred in terms of enjoying new versus older music. New tracks were often discovered by accident, especially in late 2008 and 2009, when health issues contributed to a growing sense of nonchalance.   ✱   Burning CDs happened less + more messy. Summer 2008 I pulled the plug from the since early 2002 created series, containing my favorite recent songs.

⟶  Pic 1: Two CDs of this era containing recent music, a burned one from 2008 (one of the last) and a bought one from 2010 (also one of the last). Pic 2: Some CDs burned or bought in this era featuring older tracks (at the time).

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OLD VERSUS RECENT / PLAYING AND BUYING (2ND HAND CDS)

I still loved visiting second-hand shops and flea markets, such as the Snuffelmarkt, Meimarkt and the Car Boot Sale (Oss). Sadly many of the second-hand stores from the previous era were closing down now.

⟶  Pic 1: The Car Boot Sale in Oss. Pic 2: Some articles about the problems Dutch record stores were facing.

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MORE ABOUT PLAYING MUSIC: MP3 PLAYERS

I owned an MP3 player, though I didn’t use it very actively at the time. Others, on the other hand, seemed to carry theirs everywhere. The number of tracks that could be squeezed into such a tiny device in someone’s pocket sometimes felt almost excessive. I had already experienced it some years earlier.   ✱   I mostly used my own MP3 player to digitise my old cassette tapes, so I could eventually get rid of them. My old Creative MuVo had a built-in recording function.

⟶  Pic 1: An article (written early in 2008) about MP3 players and the overwhelming availability of music: 22000 songs and nothing to listen to. At that moment Spotify was in its infancy. Pic 2: In 2010, I hadn’t discovered Spotify yet, but this person already had (source: MusicFrom).

In the mid-2010s, my musical taste became a bit darker. It has changed very little since.

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INTERNET RADIO: ME & RADIONOMY

I was still very much into internet radio at the time, both as a listener and a creator. In 2015, I was still running my 90s flavoured station on Radionomy, but the platform started to become increasingly problematic. In early 2016, I decided to pull the plug, and a couple of years later Radionomy shut down completely.

⟶  Pic: Two 2019 articles about the (approaching) end of Radionomy.

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MY FAVORITE INTERNET RADIO STATIONS

On the listeners' side: In the pics/sounds section below are some important stations and shows from this era. It's a very long list. For people who didn’t listen to these stations, these screenshots still provide a snapshot of the era. * = not existing anymore.

⟶  Pic 1: Screenshots related to Ice Radio. This station was the unofficial successor to KX Radio, partly featuring the same DJs. Pic 2: The site of the station Poko Pokito*, which played soft alternative music. Pic 3: The site of the station Ersatz Radio*, which played old alternative music (often from the 80s). Pic 3: The site of BBC 6 Music. Pic 4: The Swiss public youth station Couleur 3. Back in the days I liked the show 'Astrolab'*, presented by Ngoc Lan. Pic 5: The local French station Radio Béton. I've always liked their whimsical playlist (and schedule). Sound 1: A couple of Radio Béton fragments recorded in 2018. Sound 2: A 2016 episode of Lefto's Studio Brussel show that I particularly liked. At the time, I was a frequent listener of both the show and the station. Pic 6: The site of Studio Brussel. Sound 3: 45 minutes of the late-80s/early-90s dance station Double XX at the time. Pic 7: Mondo Bongo Radio, an eclectic Greecian station in the vein of FIP and Nova. Around 2017, more shows were being broadcast than today. Pic 8: The site of the French station FIP. Pic 9: The site of the French station Nova in early 2017. Pic 10: The redesigned Nova site, one and a half year later. Sound 4: A much played episode of the show 'Chunks of Funk'* by the Brussel DJ Mr. Leenknecht, broadcast at BRUZZ. I both liked the show and the station in general, which was especially interesting at night. Pic 11: This was the website of Mr. Leenknecht at the time. Pic 12: Radio Efímera Vinyl Rocks*, a Mexican radio station that played complete albums - By The Cure, Nirvana and many others.

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HOW TO ID TRACKS?

Identifying tracks became a lot easier over the years, thanks to Shazam. Once installed on your smartphone or tablet, it would effortlessly pick up around 95% of the songs you were searching for. No more creative tricks were needed to figure out track titles.

⟶  Pic: Two articles about the rise of Shazam.

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A DECLINE OF PHYSICAL MEDIA (1)

In the late 2010s I burned and bought my last CDs. Not that I didn't enjoy CDs anymore. But there wasn't enough fresh blood, which made buying them less and less enjoyable.   ✱   And vinyl records? They aren't my cup of tea, and I basically don't have the space to store them.   ✱   But to be honest: I really miss digging for CDs in record stores and at flea markets.

⟶  Pic: One of the last self-made CDs; 2017ish.

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A DECLINE OF PHYSICAL MEDIA (2)

Anyway - I migrated my music consumption to Spotify, Bandcamp, YouTube, and USB sticks, while smartphones became increasingly important. I also started listening to Mixcloud, Soundcloud, podcasts, downloadable radio shows and similar on-demand formats.

⟶  Pic 1: This is what Mixcloud looked like back then. Pic 2: An article about Mixcloud. Sound: An episode of 'Klap Van De Molen', a Dutch weekly music podcast I really enjoyed at the time.

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READING ABOUT MUSIC ONLINE

My music reading habits were all over the place. I was still reading written music blogs, though many of them were clearly in decline. I also continued to visit discussion forums such as Fok!forum, while at the same time using several popular social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (the latter only as a reader). Smartphones and tablets were also still relatively new additions for me.

⟶  Pic: An article about the end of the famous Dutch music blog 'KindaMuzik'.

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PERSONAL WEBSITES

I was also still maintaining personal music websites, but feeling the pressure to make them responsive sometimes took the fun out of the design process.

⟶  Pic 1: Own site, in summer 2015. Pic 2: Own site, in mid-2016; post-Radionomy and the last not-responsive one. Pic 3: Own site, in spring 2017. Pic 5: Own site, in mid-2019. After this sparse looking one, there wouldn’t be another personal site for about six years.

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REGULAR RADIO

Apart from events like NPO Radio 2's Top 2000 and NPO Radio 5's Evergreen Top 1000, I still rarely listened to FM stations, with the exception of the national Dutch talk station NPO Radio 1. I had never listened to this station before, but suddenly it caught my interest. Maybe my age (+/- 37) had something to do with it.

⟶  Pic: An article about the daily NPO Radio 1 show 'Gaan!'. Nowadays Morad is a well-known DJ at NPO Radio 2.

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OLD VERSUS RECENT MUSIC

Compared to the previous two eras, I listened more to contemporary music - without going overboard, as was the case in the early 2000s - while still discovering plenty of oldies. These tracks were months, years, or even decades old.

Taste-wise, there's little to no difference between 2015 and now. The overall mood just sort of flows along.

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INTERNET RADIO - STATIONS, THE BIG ONES

I'm still very much into internet radio. As in the previous era, the list of stations I've listened to since 2020 is pretty long. I'm changing channels a lot.   ✱   You can find a list below. These are the national public radio stations + relatively 'big' local ones. Some pics are just screenshots of the site, * = something different.

⟶  Pic 1: An article about FIP, which is a classic now.* Pic 2: The alternative Seattle based station KEXP. Pic 3: BBC 6 Music at Sundays (which I really like). Pic 4: Mobile screenshots of the Colour 3 app (their old identity which I had a soft spot for).* Pic 5: Some pics related to RTBF Jam.* Pic 6: An article about Byte FM, the Hamburg alternative to KEXP (translated into Dutch).*

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INTERNET RADIO - STATIONS, THE SMALL ONES

These are relatively small (often local) stations I've listened to since 2020. French stations are often part of the 'Ferarock' or 'Radio Campus' networks. Most pics are just screenshots of the site, * = something different.

⟶  Pic 1: The local French station Radio Béton. Sound 1: Typical Radio Béton sounds from the early/mid-2020s*. Pic 2: A schedule of BRUZZ. Pic 3: Ice Radio. Pic 4: Dandelion Radio. Pic 5: Villla Bota. Pic 6: Raptz. Pic 7: A schedule of Urgent FM. Pic 8: KLFM. Pic 9: Radio Scorpio. Pic 10: A schedule of Les Inrocks. Pic 11: An article about L'Oreille Qui Gratte*. Pic 12: Ness Radio. Pic 13: PBB, the station of Laurent Garnier. Pic 14: Pinguin Radio. Pic 15: La Run. Pic 16: Double XX. Pic 17: Start FM. (...+ other stations fairly similar to the stations mentioned here, sometimes belonging to one of the next two networks.) Pic 18: The French 'Radio Campus' network, home to many local and student-driven stations. Pic 19: The French 'Ferarock' network, home to many local and alternative stations.

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INTERNET RADIO - MEDIAU

Radio aggregators come and go. In the early 2020s MediaU was a major one. (Formerly) 'Imperial' internet radio owners will remember it; I was one of them. MediaU is no longer active. All of a sudden, it was gone, with no warning at all. I didn’t even have time to take a screenshot of the Dutch version.

⟶  Pic: The German version of the MediaU portal.

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ON-DEMAND MEDIA

Spotify played a much bigger role, despite ongoing ethical concerns. In today’s musical ecosystem, it’s hard to ignore.   ✱   Mixcloud, YouTube and Pocket Casts (that podcasts app) are other services/apps that I use a lot. And in addition to these platforms: SoundCloud and downloadable radio shows. In the previous era, I started making frequently use of on-demand media, and I've continued to do so.

⟶  Pic 1: My Spotify account in the early 2020s. Pic 2: Icon packages in a slightly later stage. Pic 3: A screenshot of my account in the same era. Pic 4: A screenshot of my account, last year. Pic 5: A screenshot of the Mixcloud site. Pic 6: A screenshot of the Pocket Casts app.

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ALGORITHMS VERSUS HUMAN CURATED

In the end, I prefer playlists and music databases that are curated by people. As long as they offer an interesting perspective on music, they can be created by both professional curators and dedicated hobbyists. I tend to ignore algorithms and still rely on fairly old-fashioned ways of discovering music.

⟶  Pic: A Reddit discussion (subreddit: Indieheads) about this subject.

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REGULAR RADIO

I can simply copy-paste the text written in the 2015-2019 part: 'Apart from events like NPO Radio 2's Top 2000 and NPO Radio 5's Evergreen Top 1000, I still rarely listened to FM stations, with the exception of the national Dutch talk station NPO Radio 1.' NPO Radio 1's early morning talk show 'Gaan!' was still a favorite.

⟶  Sound: An episode of 'Gaan!' (2020), featuring some early discussions about AI. At the time, the show was still hosted by Morad El Ouakili.

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OLD VERSUS RECENT MUSIC

There's nothing changed since the mid-2010s. I try to keep track of developments in the contemporary musical landscape, while at the same time discovering plenty of older music. These tracks are months, years, or even decades old.