Technology changes everything, but it seems to change music the most. Four or five generations of recorded music technology have passed in my lifetime. As a child, I listened to Marlo Thomas's "Free to Be You and Me" on vinyl. During middle school, I bought Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock on cassette. Then came Pearl Jam on compact disc, followed by MP3 files purchased over the Internet.
The most recent turn of the wheel? Music is free. And why shouldn't it be? Digital music is merely information, and information wants to be free, right? Services such as Pandora and Spotify allow people to stream digital music anytime, anywhere, as long as they have a data connection.
But what does free, unlimited streaming music means for the environment? As with so many environmental questions, the answer is complicated.