I suspect I’m not the iTunes generation. Call me old-fashioned, but I can’t get on the pay-per-song bandwagon.

Don’t get me wrong. I love downloading music. I have a special relationship with my iPod, Theresa.

But I’m also one of those who pays special attention to the seventh song of an album.

How often have I bought an album because of one song only to fall in love with the entire album or discover another song better than the one for which I’d bought the album? Albums aren’t a collection of random songs; the songs relate via theme(s) and style(s). The songs on a particular album together form a shape. To strip one away and disregard the rest is to appreciate only a corner of a painting.

Besides this, it often means that each song on its own is judged by its ability to immediately appeal commercially. Some songs take time before understanding and love dawn.

All of this is lost with pay-per-song. You can see which songs listeners download the most (usually the songs chosen by radio DJs), and bypass the hard decision of choosing for yourself your favorite song of an album.

But then again, I think digital’s got nothing on the sound of a vinyl.