Treat yourself to the full experience on Spotify and Tidal. Think Lost In The Supermarket by The Clash, Outkast's So Fresh, So Clean, Iggy Pop's I'm Bored and Music For A Nurse by Oceansize, for starters. It's all relatively upbeat – no lonesome crooning – and all the titles here are relevant to our shared predicament, tangentially or otherwise. What you'll get is a What Hi-Fi? curated playlist featuring five-and-a-half hours of tunes to celebrate staying healthy and not going out. Shameless self-promotion aside, this surely beats another Brian Eno album. Why not lend your and ear to a few of these slightly more niche curated playlists? It'll make a change from the hi-res files stored on your laptop, whatever's on the Astell & Kern, the playlist someone shared with you at the start of the first lockdown or the CDs you retrieved from your car glove box, at any rate. If you've ever used Spotify, you'll know that typing 'new music' into the search bar will yield a selection of curated mainstream newness from the likes of Lady Gaga, Ella Eyre, Jake Bugg and Stormzy, (and New Music Friday UK is always a good playlist shout here) but what if you're looking for something a bit different? That's where we come in. And the platform is always trying to offer something new, whether it be artist-led algorithms to better personalise your music recommendations, listing virtual events in lieu of real ones or giving Spotify account-holders a chance to 'tip' acts while listening – acts who are clearly losing gig revenue right now. Spotify isn't our reigning champion when it comes to value, variety and audio quality, but its popularity and accessibility is undeniable. These offer a lockdown-approved lifeline at the click of a button – a chance to test-drive new tracks and try sounds before you buy.
But that's where streaming services like Spotify, Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer and Apple Music come in. Whether you're after a selection of sounds to help you get a good night's sleep, tunes to entertain children at home or a selection of inspiring albums written in self-isolation, heading down to your local record shop and rifling through crates is off-menu right now. In short, music has never been in greater demand. Live concerts, gigs and festivals are still out as we march further into 2021, so the need to feel transported to somewhere more beautiful via melodies, lyrics and rhythms has rarely been felt more keenly.