The Faustian Pursuit of Music Acquisition

lucifer_sam · 10-22-2011, 10:50 PM

Earlier this week I was skimming through my library, and I just realized how little of it I listen to...not because I actively choose not to, but because I've been habitually downloading albums for years just to have them. After thinking about this for a while, I realized how absurd (and incredibly self-indulgent) a practice this is.

Yes I'm being exposed to a lot of music.
Yes I'm learning about unfamiliar genres.
Yes I'm finding more and more music that I like.

But where does it stop? Where is the utility of having 100,000 tracks instead of 10,000? If there's not a finish line to cross, what purpose is there to amassing so much music this quickly? For my own benefit, so that I can operate like a musical sieve? No, I don't feel enlightened by this. Only burdened.

This is why I still haven't (purposefully) listened to an album released this year. It's one of the reasons I try to disregard end-of-year lists, because my first impulse is to acquire those "top" albums, stick them in a folder somewhere & forget about them until moments such as these.

Does anybody else feel this way, or are you the rest of you content with your music consumption habits?

10-22-2011, 10:50 PM	#1 (permalink)
lucifer_sam Unrepentant Ass-Mod Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3,921	The Faustian Pursuit of Music Acquisition Earlier this week I was skimming through my library, and I just realized how little of it I listen to...not because I actively choose not to, but because I've been habitually downloading albums for years just to have them. After thinking about this for a while, I realized how absurd (and incredibly self-indulgent) a practice this is. Yes I'm being exposed to a lot of music. Yes I'm learning about unfamiliar genres. Yes I'm finding more and more music that I like. But where does it stop? Where is the utility of having 100,000 tracks instead of 10,000? If there's not a finish line to cross, what purpose is there to amassing so much music this quickly? For my own benefit, so that I can operate like a musical sieve? No, I don't feel enlightened by this. Only burdened. This is why I still haven't (purposefully) listened to an album released this year. It's one of the reasons I try to disregard end-of-year lists, because my first impulse is to acquire those "top" albums, stick them in a folder somewhere & forget about them until moments such as these. Does anybody else feel this way, or are you the rest of you content with your music consumption habits? __________________ first.am