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We look at some possible future scenarios about iTunes, in part because a recent change that Apple has made. Show notes: Episode #104 - The Future of iTunes Why iTunes Isn’t Bloated Mojave Update Updates iTunes Apple Support page, "Update to the latest version of iTunes" Steve McGuire maintains a list of recent stand-alone iTunes installers at Apple Support Episode #122 - What if Apple Does Stop Selling Downloads? Our next tracks: Springsteen on Broadway (Netflix); two-disc CD "Compared to What" Les McCann & Eddie Harris: Swiss Movement; Eddie Harris: The Electrifying Eddie Harris If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Doug and Kirk make a list, and check it twice, presenting some ideas for music-related Christmas gifts. Show notes: Episode #130 - Desert Island Discs, Part 1 Episode #133 - Desert Island Discs, Part 2 Angle plugs Banana plugs TwelveSouth BackPack for iMac iTunes gift cards for Apple Music Technics SL-1210 MK2 turntable IsoAcoustics speaker stands Behringer U-Phono UFO202 Audiophile USB/Audio Interface with Built-in Phono Preamp Bach 333 Mozart 225 Bach 333: Amazon.com, $523: Amazon UK: £400, Amazon FR, €384 Bloom: 10 Worlds Sonos One Apple HomePod Compared to Sonos One Sony CDP-CX355 Mega Storage Compact Disc 300 CD Changer Player If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Chris Connaker, of the Computer Audiophile website, joins us to discuss downsizing audio systems. You really can get good sound with a minimal setup these days, and Chris explains how. Guest: Computer Audiophile Superphonica Show notes: Sonos Beam Focal Chorus 705 speakers Sonos Playbar Sonos One Chris Connaker's HomePod review Apple HomePod Compared to Sonos One Grateful Dead: Sunshine Daydream, 8/27/72, Veneta, OR Sonos Sub The Definitive Dynaudio Music 1, 3, 5, 7 Speaker Review Devialet Phantom Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Aurender S5W Tivoli Audio Pal Naim Mu-so Our next tracks: Planet Earth II & Blue Planet II (4K Blu-Ray) Joni Mitchell: Shadows and Light If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Special Guest: Chris Connaker.Support The Next Track

Doug and Kirk have made lists of their ten desert island discs, and, in part one of a two-part series, we hear Doug's picks. Check out Episode #130 - Desert Island Discs, Part 1 to hear Kirk's picks. Show notes: Doug's ten desert island discs (links to Apple Music, except for Exposure which isn't streamable): The Clash: London Calling The Rolling Stones: Get Yer Ya Yas Out! Humble Pie: Performance Rockin' the Fillmore Lucinda Williams: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road Fats Waller: Greatest Hits JS Bach: The Brandenburg Concertos Fatboy Slim: You've Come a Long Way Baby Frank Zappa: Hot Rats Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy) Robert Fripp: Exposure We also mentioned Peter Gabriel performing Here Comes the Flood from the 1979 Kate Bush Christmas Special (via YouTube). If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

A recent article in Rolling Stone says that the album is dying. Andy Doe says that "every word in that article is shite." Guest: Andy Doe Proper Discord Show notes: The Album Is in Deep Trouble – and the Music Business Probably Can’t Save it Zeno's paradoxes (Wikipedia) Episode #1 – Songs to Albums to Songs Existentialism Is a Humanism Our next tracks: Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending, et al Baxter Dury: Happy Soup If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Special Guest: Andy Doe.Support The Next Track

Musician and journalist Jeff Slate wrote the liner notes for the latest Bob Dylan Bootleg Series release, More Blood, More Tracks, covering the Blood on the Tracks sessions. Guest: Jeff Slate Jeff Slate's articles about music Show notes: More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 Deluxe Edition When Bob Dylan Saw God (Esquire) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Deluxe Edition A Simple Twist of Fate: Bob Dylan and the Making of Blood on the Tracks Bob Dylan’s First Day with “Tangled Up in Blue” (New Yorker) Mondo Scripto Blind Willie McTell (Apple Music) Our next tracks: More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 Deluxe Edition Billy F. Gibbons: The Big Bad Blues If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Special Guest: Jeff Slate.Support The Next Track

Doug and Kirk have made lists of their ten desert island discs, and, in part one of a two-part series, we hear Kirk's picks. Show notes: Kirk's ten desert island discs (links to Apple Music): Hume: Musicall Humours, Jordi Savall Bach: Goldberg Variations, Andras Schiff Schubert: Piano Sonata no. 21, D960, Maria Joao Pires Miles Davis: Kind of Blue Grateful Dead: American Beauty Budd/Eno: Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror Reich: Music for 18 Musicians (1978 ECM recording) Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks Durutti Column: LC Feldman: Piano and String Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Aki Takahashi If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Classical music is vast. How can listeners new to the genre find what they want to listen to, and learn to appreciate the many styles of music it contains. We talk with Timothy Judd who helps listeners do this through his blog. Guest: Timothy Judd Show notes: The Listeners' Club Episode #18 – New Yorker Music Critic Alex Ross Discusses Listening to Classical Music Episode #126 - Background Music and Muzak Complete Music of Carl Ruggles Our next tracks: Bach 333 Tony Joe White: Hoodoo If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

Streaming music has changed the economics of the music industry, but it has also affected the way songs are made. We discuss some of these changes and how music is adapting to the new ecosystem. Show notes: 7 Songs That Prove Streaming Has Changed Song Structures Martin Connor The dying art of the great song intro Ramones: Ramones The Clash: Sandinista! Bob Dylan: Beyond Here Lies Nothin' Our next tracks: Chiku Za: Honte no Shirabe Madness: Absolutely If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track

We all know that the recorded music industry has gone through many changes in recent decades, but it can be interesting to take a long view of the various ways that music has been sold. Show notes: Frank Denyer: Music for Shakuhachi Visualizing 40 Years of Music Industry Sales (Visual Capitalist) Ringtones Composed by Brian Eno for the Nokia 8800 Scirocco Phone Creating the Windows 95 Startup Sound 48% of people who buy vinyl don't listen to the records Episode #119 - Caoilfhionn Rose on Gigging, Busking, Recording, and Releasing Her First Album Cassette Store Day Episode #90 – Liz Pelly on Streaming Muzak and Playlists Our next tracks: Bach: the Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year, La Petite Band, Sigiswald Kuijken PJ Harvey: Rid of Me If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.Support The Next Track