#tt.fm

The Turntable wars were one of the more fascinating stories to emerge in 2021 startup land (though I suspect those involved might dispute the matter). After years away, the beloved but bygone collaborative music streaming service returned for a population that had been stuck inside for a year thanks to a global pandemic. Things got really interesting, however, when a second claimant to the…

What a strange morning it will be today for people who would normally log on https://turntable.fm/ as if it was a cup of coffee to start their day  Some people like to read the morning paper, check their Facebook, or Google+ to see what is going on in the world. Then there were people to check to see what was happening on turntable.fm.

It only took me  a couple of weeks after joining  before my modus operadni was to sign on turntable.fm first thing in the morning. The daily grind turned into dj’ing, listening & chatting with people the room I consider my homeroom, The Breakfast Club created by Meowtastic. The music was 80’s. The room name was inspired by the John Hughes film. The Breakfast Club

Over time people changed jobs, had kids, got married, got divorced and some have passed on.  The group of people I had grown to love, stopped logging on and eventually the happy place I had discovered dissolved. Some might have decided to throw in the towel and call it quits in such a situation, but I decided to immerse myself into turntable.fm. That meant taking a step out of my comfort zone to discover new music and meet new people. I would be lying if I said it was not scary to hop in a room and say “howdy” in hopes of someone acknowledging you. Common courtesy and a sense of humor gained me respect in rooms I might not have ever considered going into when I first joined, let alone spin in.

The music knowledge I learned on turntable.fm during my tenure is priceless. I highly doubt there is a college on the planet that can school you in as many music genres; and subgenres, as I have learned in the past two years. I was a nightclub disc jockey with over a decade of experience when I decided to hang up my headphones.  I never would have thought that playing music on TT.fm  would give me the same euphoria that I got from spinning in clubs, but it sometimes did.

Once the word was out that the site would be shutting down on December 2, 2013, some users started to show their true colors. There was a destructive herd mentality that some people got caught up in thinking that point farming and trolling was fine. Quite honestly it reminded me of how some people acted in the  1992 Los Angeles Riots. It is understandable that people get upset when their lives are disrupted. People generally don’t like change. However getting angry and taking the site shut down personally is narcissistic. Hoping that turntable live will fail is immature. Why would you want to see someone one out of a job?  That is simply bad karma. The reason for shutting it down is dollars and sense. A bottom line business decision. It was an awesome site that was free. If you feel jipped you need to explore that feeling with your shrink.

TT.fm was my happy place for a long time. I value the friendships that I have made. It is rare that I speak out publicly about anything, but I felt discombobulated this morning and wanted to share my final thoughts.

Peace & Love,

*SINGLES* by Howlings