They are probably useless now. My dad tried playing some cassettes he hadn’t touched in a couple of decades and they had all deteriorated to the point that they were unplayable. He threw them all out.
That’s a shame.
All of mine are still in cases and in a cupboard, so I was hoping they’d be okay.
As I was just thinking about getting a cassette player to convert some stuff to MP3.
I can probably get one cheaply enough (say under $50) off eBay so that if it doesn’t work out, it’s no great loss.
You can see how much of a joke this has become now with old songs just rocketing up the charts because people play them again incessantly on Spotify.
This week in the UK, they have two old Christmas songs in their top 10.
#5 All I Want For Christmas Is You - Mariah Carey
#6 Last Christmas - Wham!
Plus these in the top 40.
#16 Do They Know It’s Christmas? - Band Aid
#21 Merry Christmas Everyone - Shakin’ Stevens
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All those Christmas songs in the top 40 gives you an idea of how many retailers must be using Spotify these days…
I reckon tracks should become ‘retired’ from the chart unless they are re-released (not on a compilation).
But, The chart simply doesn’t matter anymore. It’s a shame but I’ve come to the conclusion it’s irrelevant in this day and age because music is consumed so differently. It’s virtually impossible to decide the weighting between streaming/digital purchases/physical purchases (lol). You can’t ignore one group of those three without skewing those results.
In addition, singles only really exist in the Radio/YouTube world now so the Ed Sheeran scenario of him clogging the charts is impossible to avoid once he releases an album, unless you limit an artist to a max of say 2 tracks in the top 20, 3 in top 40 etc)
The industry has changed, the official chart no longer matters, which is a shame as I used to love listening to find out what would be number one when I was younger and still enjoy reading old charts occasionally now.
I see Billboard is changing its formula in 2018: Billboard Charts to Adjust Streaming Weighting in 2018 | Billboard
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It is a shame.
Even with the changes Billboard are suggesting, I just can’t see how including streaming will be an accurate measurement on how popular a song actually is across the wider population.
You will always have these obsessives who listen to some songs a million times, pushing that track up the chart. If someone bought a single and played it a million times, it was still only recorded as one sale.
Now those Christmas songs from 30 years ago are impacting the charts like they have never done before. And established artists are always at an advantage with their music and it’s harder for new artists to crack the top of the charts.
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I went to a work Christmas party last night, and afterwards we went back to someone’s house for a few more drinks.
We each started playing random songs on our phones, so I chose “Love Plus One” by Haircut 100.
There were about 10 people there, ranging in age from late 30s to early 50s, and NONE of them said they have ever heard that song. They all seemed to think it was a bit of a weird song.
Maybe that song is a bit more obscure than I thought, or maybe I just have very… um… “eclectic”’ tastes in music 
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I remember it and I liked it. It was a top 10 hit in the 80s. Maybe top 5.
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I hope this doesn’t involve killing off and/or ruining Google Play Music 
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It sounds like from the above linked article that Google Play Music would be a download store and YouTube would be the streaming service?
Now if they fixed it to make the app work, that would be great.
Huh? It works fine for me.
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Shazam still doesn’t recognise it when you play it the ‘All Aussie Adventures’ theme, huh?
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I actually just tried it in case they added it, but alas, I stay disappointed.
Seriously, whenever I try shazaming, a track when I’m out, it never works. The app only works with the TV or my laptop speakers.
It’s not like I need to know tracks from the radio, as the announcer will say the name (or a list is online), and on TV most of the time, music programs name the song. It’s when I’m out I need to know a track, I can’t rewind real life.
I love the concept, but it needs better execution.
I don’t seem to have a problem with it. It even works at the gym which has the speakers quite high in the ceiling (it’s a former Bunnings warehouse) even with equipment and people noises around. Surprisingly even works with world music tracks.
The only time it has failed on me recently was when I tried it on an obscure 80s Aussie track on Classic Countdown.
Yeah always works for me too. SoundHound might be worth a crack @TheHubMan, it’s essentially the same.
Yes, Shazam is great 99% of the time, it copes well with background noise, and FM static when I try Shazaming a song on a Sydney community radio station from up here near Newcastle.
Like you said, there are some older Aussie songs it doesn’t find though.
