Trying To Use An MP3 Player Instead Of Spotify In 2024

Let me take you back just over a year ago, I had been on a nostalgia trip watching YouTube videos about MP3 players and "simpler times". It got me yearning for my old Sony MP3 Walkman I had when I was a kid (until my sister broke it). I'd had mounting gripes with streaming between their dodgy treatment of artists, my frustrations with how distracting smartphones are, and interfaces that always seem to get worse, so I decided it was time for a change.

I had a look on an online local buy and sell site and searched for an mp3 player. It must have been my lucky day because one of the first results was a new in box, red Sony NWE394 for only 30 euro. A pretty good deal if you ask me. So after messaging the seller we agreed to meet up that evening and I went to college, then rugby training which I left a little early and met up with the seller. I felt like a kid again getting something really cool for Christmas and decided to stay at my grandparents that night seeing as I was in the area. I unboxed the Walkman that night, delighted by it's diminutive form factor, nice feeling buttons, and low res but cute screen. I realised that without my computer there, I wouldn't be able to add music to it until I got home. More on that later.

The next morning I grabbed a hot chocolate and hopped onto a bus to go to college, it'd take less than an hour to get there. Annoyingly, my grandparents house is in a much better location in terms of buses and proximity to colleges than I am now. It was a good cosy cold morning and I booted up the Walkman. As I had expected, there were a couple of preloaded songs already on it including; It's Complicated by A Day To Remember, These Are The Days by Just Left, Moment Of Silence by Edisun, and Harder Than Mine by Freshman 15. Quite a particular grouping but certainly not one I'm against.

My first impression of the little guy was great. Over the next week I added music to it that I had on my computer. But that brought my first grievance, I could simply drag and drop files but that wouldn't include the songs album art, even though they were already attached. After a bit of research and trial and error, I managed to get things working how I liked with Sony's own music transfer software. So job done right? Well no, I also wanted podcasts and audiobooks on it, and that was a bit trickier. Getting audiobooks on MP3 was a bit harder than I thought it'd be so I may have resorted to less reputable sources of the MP3 files, and even they were not easy to actually get downloaded. Since then I've simply ended up getting a portable CD player (which I really like, even with the added bulk) and just buying audiobook CDs. Getting podcasts on an MP3 player is also just such a pain. I was downloading them from the Podcast Addict website and slowly transferring them from my computer but wow it was just so tedious. It didn't take long for me to just go back to podcasts on my phone.

But music on an MP3 player should be just fine right? It's what they're made for and can't be that much of a hassle once you have the songs you want on them? Unfortunately not, the Walkman sits in my little backpack and does get occasional use but there are new artists I have started listening to since I got it who have no presence on the Walkman. The process of getting music onto it the way I want is just so tedious, as well as finding music downloads to put on it. Most of my songs on it are CD rips, but a lot of smaller artists older music is really hard to find on CD here, and this issue affects many of my favourite songs. 

Despite my gripes with streaming, there is a simple convenience that makes a dedicated MP3 player hard to use these days. I've just cancelled my Spotify subscription and am going to try using the little Walkman is my main again but honestly, I don't reckon it will go much better than last time. I hope I'm wrong and can get over the drawbacks. Is anyone else still using or trying to use an MP3 player nowadays? 

I'd like to hear your stories. Thanks for listening to mine ~Ian