I think we all need at least one really nice positive thing about the entertainment business every single day of the year, including weekends. Sometimes it may be something simple, like a video that showcases something fun and sometimes it may be a movie poster that embraces the aesthetic we all want Hollywood to aspire to. Sometimes it may be a long-winded diatribe. Sometimes it’ll be from the staff and extended family of CHUD.com. Maybe even you readers can get in on it. So, take this to the bank. Every day, you will get a little bit of positivity from one column a day here. Take it with you. Maybe it’ll help you through a bad day or give folks some fun things to hunt down in their busy celluloid digesting day.

8.20.10
By Jeremy G. Butler  (Author Page, Twitter Page, Facebook Page)

To start, farewell and best wishes to Devin.  I think we’re all thankful for what he brought to the site, so there’s no need to write an entire article saying so.  SO – that said…

What I’m Thankful For:

Grooveshark.com.

One of my newly-discovered hobbies is hitting up the local record stores and spending an hour or so browsing through their used albums.  You can usually find some awesome deals (Bowie’s “Diamond Dogs” for 97 cents?  Fuck YES, please and thank you, Hastings) and even if you walk out empty-handed there’s some fun to be had in just the experience.  It’s like a treasure hunt, basically.  And obviously, there are a few choice albums everybody knows that they want or need, but it’s also nice to stumble upon some new stuff with which to fill your checklist.  The CHUD Boards and its Album of the month club is good for that (which, by the way, is adopting Grooveshark – you’re welcome), so are Jake Scherzer and Phil Nobile’s Facebook pages.

But if you’re like me then you’re the kinda dude who likes to listen to shit before he buys it (yes, even if it costs 97 cents) and that’s where Grooveshark comes in.  In a lot of ways it’s like the best parts of the iTunes Store and YouTube mixed together.  There are different ways to use it, obviously, and its (rather intuitive) interface can serve a lot of useful purposes, but what I’ve found as the single most valuable component in the entire site is the play list builder, in which I can search for, build and listen to entire albums, top to bottom, as many times as I’d like.  This year alone I’ve listened to close to 60 albums that I’ve never heard before and it’s because of Grooveshark.  One of your friends posts a random-ass song on Facebook and you dig it?  Build the album in Grooveshark and decide if you like it.  Wanna fill in the gaps on an artist you like but to whom your exposure is spotty?  Hit up their discography on Wikipedia and start building play lists in Grooveshark.  Hell, you just wanna build your perfect playlist for work or studying or whatever the hell else?  Grooveshark.  Have a friend who’s never heard a particular album?  Build it in Grooveshark and send them the link.

It puts countless songs and albums and artists right at your fingertips without having to spend a pre-emptive dime and without the stigma of being a dirty bootlegger (should you be concerned with such things), as it’s completely streaming and web-based.   It kinda goes back to what I was saying before about Netflix Instant – it’s about accessibility.  It’s about being able to expose yourself to as much as you possibly can and (legally) taking away practically every obstacle.  Not only have I listened to a fuckton of new albums this year, I’ve also bought nearly as many and I bought them all with confidence, knowing exactly what I was getting when I made the purchase.  And for that I’m thankful.