Week Fifteen

oooOoooOOOoo that's so trueeee

IN:

• Apple Music

• wired headphones

• hashtags

• Yeti water bottles with that specific double-removable lid for ease of drinking and refilling

• not having a phone case on your iPhone once you’ve owned your phone for at least two years (whatever happens to my phone now is between me, my phone, and god)

• handwriting/scanning notes on agreements

There’s just something so nice and simple about wired headphones. Don’t get me wrong, I love my AirPods (and music sounds way better on them), but you can be way more present with wired headphones and less in your own world/head? (Insider note: I took this photo .5 seconds before almost being run over by an entire Spanish family.)

OUT:

• every new bar or restaurant in New York becoming a members-only bar/restaurant (RIP Jane Hotel; and what’s this news about NYC’s first Erewhon??)

• anxiety (ugh.)

• taking photos of/with celebrities when you see them out in public

• people who still use “whom” and try to correct your grammar and spelling (I speak multiple languages, hbu??)

• corporate offices being so cold that you can barely type and need to wear 3 sweaters

• Brock Purdy having an injury after his first game (literally out) and ruining my fantasy football lineup (ugh, I wish I had Josh Allen!!!!!)

I do not think people should take/ask to take photos of/with celebrities, athletes, etc. It kind of freaks me out?? The fact that I even took this photo of the back of Carlos Alcaraz was just for all of you! It was on Monday, I had just taken a selfie (see above), enjoying a walk back to the office from lunch, when I was almost knocked over by this entire Spanish family going to ask Carlos for a photo. It was the day after he won the US Open (he was so hungover), I could’ve gotten a photo of his front (hot), but like it goes against my morals, and I was way too embarrassed/ashamed even to try to do that. You’re lucky I got this photo!!

BFFR:

In: Apple Music

This week’s BFFR might be a liiiiitle shorter because I’m tired. This is the 50th time I’ve said I’m tired in the past two weeks’ worth of posts, so if the typos and grammar mistakes from the last few posts didn’t give it away, I hope this makes it loud and clear!!

But this week is an easy one for me. The supremacy of Apple Music.

Truly, when did you all decide to become Spotify users? No, really, when? Where did this sleek Swedish company come from? When did you download the app and hear about it? By the time I heard about it, you were all like avid diehard users?? From how I remember it, we were all using iTunes and legally buying our music (yes, you read that correctly, LEGALLY buying our music! It’s copyright infringement not to buy it!! Idc if I’m a narc, sue me (actually, you can’t sue me because I’m not breaking the law!!), and then once Apple Music came out, we just seamlessly transitioned onto that subscription model instead of using iTunes. Right?? No??

Well, that’s what I did at least. And I have no regrets. To me, Apple Music is synonymous with quality. It was built with real music lovers in mind. With lossless and Spatial Audio, you know that the sound you’ll be hearing is the most crisp audio file on the market (idfk whatever those words mean, but I know that they sound good (literally) to me!!). And I’ve tried the other music apps, I promise! I was once forced to download Spotify because the bar that was hosting my birthday could only support Spotify playlists (weird?), and a year or so later I was then again forced to re-download it because I needed to be able to add to Sami’s bachelorette and pre-wedding playlists (obviously had to be part of that). I just didn’t really understand the app? It’s not intuitive to me. The queuing up songs? I mess it up every single time. It’s not really like the most fun and enjoyable experience for me. But to this day, I am still technically a subscriber to both Apple Music and Spotify — one app I actually use to play (and carefully curate) my playlists and listen to my music, and the other I use to be able to easily open links for songs that friends send me (because yes, I am a friend that actually listens to the song when you send it to me and ask me to listen) and for this Substack…

To speak on that last part for a sec, you may have noticed that when I share links for songs embedded in The B List or during my weekly Deep Cut on The B Side…it’s usually a Spotify link, and that’s confusing when I’m such an Apple Music ride or die. So why use Spotify? Because I am thoughtful. I understand that many of you only have Spotify (still a weird choice to me), and that if I didn’t share the links via Spotify none of you would ever take the time of day to click/listen to the song I’ve delicately selected (from my soul) for that week. But what if I could convince you that there’s a better, crisper world out there? Not to totally rag on Spotify’s perfectly nice app and algorithm, but if you really consider yourself a music connoisseur, a real lover of song, why aren’t you using the app that was famously built for just that?

I don’t really know how else to convince you, but I know I’m not changing my mind. I hear you that Spotify gives you silly weekly names for your playlists (daylists?? what does that even mean??) created by the app, and that you get a year end review so you can see what crazy percentage of a fan you are for an artist (we get this on Apple too, btw), and you can listen to podcasts and audiobooks all on one app — but again, for all of that efficiency and cuteness you are sacrificing the quality and integrity of the art itself.

So why not just consider the other side for a beat (pun intended). Try it out. There are so many ways to get a free trial for Apple Music. And you can’t knock something until you’ve tried it (and again, I’ve tried (and continue to try) Spotify, so…it’s only fair that you all try Apple Music before you come to me with an opinion). You would have access to all of Zane Lowe’s incredibly cool interviews and all of the random artists’ radio stations where they curate/play their own favorite mixes. We’re having such intellectual artsy fun over on Apple Music!

So in honor of this BFFR being Apple Music v. Spotify (in a nice chill way, both are great companies, I’m a big fan of everyone, we don’t have to fight, even though Apple Music is a better experience for me personally etc. etc.) I am highlighting that I’ve made an ongoing “The B List — Deep Cuts” playlist on both Apple Music and Spotify, where I will continue to add each week’s Deep Cut to both playlists and keep them up to date. This way you’ll all have a fun, cute place to keep track of the songs I’ve selected so far, and we can see what random stage of life I was in when I picked a certain song/songs (can’t wait to see what seasonal depression brings out of me!!) So even though I will continue to be linking my songs in Substack with Spotify links (I am a woman of the people), I am looking out for my Apple Music Listers who may want to hear the Deep Cuts via crisp Apple Music airwaves too.

I hope you join us.

Xx,

B

The B List — Deep Cuts Playlist Apple Music

The B List — Deep Cuts Playlist Spotify

ICYMI 👀👀👀👀

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