The Faustian Pursuit of Music Acquisition

lucifer_sam · 10-22-2011, 11:50 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?

Phantom Limb · 10-23-2011, 12:20 AM

I actually just realized this same thing myself. I have an ass-load of music that I haven't listened to and I probably download an average of 10-15 albums a week, most of which doesn't get completely listened to. I don't think it's a bad thing though, and I plan to keep downloading as much music as possible even if I can't keep up with myself.

My 30gb ipod just broke and I replaced it with a 4gb one which is fantastic for this situation. I've been making an effort to switch out all of the music on my ipod on a regular basis so i can listen to all of the things that i normally skim over in my library.

I can't see any downside to having more music than you can listen to, it just means you'll always have something new to listen to. Maybe I don't have as large of a library as you do, but I welcome crazy amounts of new music. It may be a burden, but it's probably the best burden ever.

lucifer_sam · 10-23-2011, 01:18 AM

Well the burden is inherent: the time you spend acquiring those albums could be better applied to enjoying them or any other ancillary activity. If you spend less time searching for music than listening to it, this situation can precipitate itself simply by a measure of accessibility; if music took as long to find as it did to listen to, then your consumptive rate is going to be much more limited.

It may sound shitty to say it, but I think the digital age equipped consumers with the tools necessary to transform the music collector into the music miser.

Phantom Limb · 10-23-2011, 01:27 AM

hahaha, the thing is, I listen to music while I'm download music. It's the secret loophole!

Zer0 · 10-23-2011, 07:28 AM

I listen to everything I download. I don't download constantly because I don't really see the point in having a ton of albums I'll probably never get around to listening to and it's best not to be overwhelmed by a huge amount of music. I need the space on my HD for other stuff as well. There's only a very small handful of albums in my library that I haven't listened to and they were downloaded as part of a discography. There are some albums which I have only listened to once or twice but I haven't deleted them in case I might want to listen to them again sometime. Sometimes I don't download or buy cds for a couple of weeks to give myself a chance to listen to what I have, especially albums I haven't listened to in a while. There's no real point in having a huge library that you are never going to have the pleasure of hearing half of.

Paedantic Basterd · 10-23-2011, 07:59 AM

I used to download like that, and all it ever did was clog up my computer with years of stuff I would never power through. These days I've got downloading down to my own little science where ultimately, I'm only downloading 20 albums a week, and I can't get a fresh batch until I've finished with what I've got.

Under this method, I've never listened to so much in a year, or purchased so much. It used to be that I put music off because of how much I had on my computer. The routine makes it manageable for me.

Mrd00d · 10-23-2011, 08:29 AM

I consider it a grand, noble journey of discovery. With a new computer, I spent the better part of a year downloading upwards of 100k songs and sifting through all the artists I already knew and rating what I knew/grew up with. Then I went on and finished respective discographies here and there, here and there while listening to new music and exploring unknown territory. At this point, I've got maybe 20k rated and I've really slowed down on downloading. I picked up 10-15 albums this summer tops. I'm still going through and rating my 'old' stuff and having a blast. It's such a great feeling to discover a band that you fall in love with, and you already have all their work.

CanwllCorfe · 10-23-2011, 10:25 AM

I'm actually the complete opposite. I look at my library and wish I had more stuff. Well, stuff that I truly enjoy. I get albums that I kind of like, and they get old pretty quick. Back when I started broadening my horizons, I found all kinds of new genres that I liked and pretty much everything I found was new. Now that I know what I like, it's become a hell of a lot harder.

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 10-23-2011, 10:32 AM

I went through a phase where I was acquiring so much obscure music so rapidly, which was a hobby I very much enjoyed, that I began feeling as though I hadn't paid my dues and heard enough of the "legendary", "famous" or "must hear before you die" type albums. I couldn't really hold up a conversation about music because all I was really into was archived vinyl type stuff from blogs and mainstream wise a few 90s Alternative bands. So I made the unfortunate decision to hold off on collecting/enjoying obscure records while I set out to hear the "greatest" albums of all time. I listened to quite a few of them, but what ended up happening is relegating them to a folder and never opening them again, save for a song coming on shuffle now and again.

I found I could never listen to all the music people "expected" me to have listened to, and went back to just listening to what I enjoy.

Now I have a fairly good size music collection made up of a lot of things I haven't heard, some of which still surprise me occasionally and I discover music without ever logging onto MB.

RVCA · 10-23-2011, 12:46 PM

I download a lot of music, but I justify it by assuring myself that music will not always be free in such a manner. The internet as a great frontier of unabashed freedom to upload and share and download whatever you want is something I just don't feel is a sustainable model. I really do think that, at some point in the future, I will not be able to go and download CCR's discography on a whim, so what's the harm in acquiring it now? I keep everything neat and tidy, and I listen to most of it. I have plenty of hard drive space, too.

Also, bear in mind that due to the digital format music has evolved into, the music collections we are creating now will be with us for the rest of our lives. That's a pretty significant motivator for me to acquire as much of it as I please.

10-22-2011, 11:50 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

10-23-2011, 01:18 AM	#3 (permalink)
lucifer_sam Unrepentant Ass-Mod Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3,921	Well the burden is inherent: the time you spend acquiring those albums could be better applied to enjoying them or any other ancillary activity. If you spend less time searching for music than listening to it, this situation can precipitate itself simply by a measure of accessibility; if music took as long to find as it did to listen to, then your consumptive rate is going to be much more limited. It may sound shitty to say it, but I think the digital age equipped consumers with the tools necessary to transform the music collector into the music miser. __________________ first.am Last edited by lucifer_sam; 10-23-2011 at 01:37 AM.

10-23-2011, 07:28 AM	#5 (permalink)
Zer0 ∞ Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Ireland Posts: 3,792	I listen to everything I download. I don't download constantly because I don't really see the point in having a ton of albums I'll probably never get around to listening to and it's best not to be overwhelmed by a huge amount of music. I need the space on my HD for other stuff as well. There's only a very small handful of albums in my library that I haven't listened to and they were downloaded as part of a discography. There are some albums which I have only listened to once or twice but I haven't deleted them in case I might want to listen to them again sometime. Sometimes I don't download or buy cds for a couple of weeks to give myself a chance to listen to what I have, especially albums I haven't listened to in a while. There's no real point in having a huge library that you are never going to have the pleasure of hearing half of. __________________ Last FM \| RYM \| The Final Sound

10-23-2011, 08:29 AM	#7 (permalink)
Mrd00d Stoned and Jammin' Out Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Northern California; Eugene, OR; mobile Posts: 1,602	I consider it a grand, noble journey of discovery. With a new computer, I spent the better part of a year downloading upwards of 100k songs and sifting through all the artists I already knew and rating what I knew/grew up with. Then I went on and finished respective discographies here and there, here and there while listening to new music and exploring unknown territory. At this point, I've got maybe 20k rated and I've really slowed down on downloading. I picked up 10-15 albums this summer tops. I'm still going through and rating my 'old' stuff and having a blast. It's such a great feeling to discover a band that you fall in love with, and you already have all their work. __________________ Mrd00d's Last.fm

10-23-2011, 10:25 AM	#8 (permalink)
CanwllCorfe Quiet Man in the Corner Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Pocono Mountains Posts: 2,480	I'm actually the complete opposite. I look at my library and wish I had more stuff. Well, stuff that I truly enjoy. I get albums that I kind of like, and they get old pretty quick. Back when I started broadening my horizons, I found all kinds of new genres that I liked and pretty much everything I found was new. Now that I know what I like, it's become a hell of a lot harder. __________________ Your eyes were never yet let in to see the majesty and riches of the mind, but dwell in darkness; for your God is blind.

10-23-2011, 07:59 AM	#6 (permalink)
Paedantic Basterd Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 5,184	I used to download like that, and all it ever did was clog up my computer with years of stuff I would never power through. These days I've got downloading down to my own little science where ultimately, I'm only downloading 20 albums a week, and I can't get a fresh batch until I've finished with what I've got. Under this method, I've never listened to so much in a year, or purchased so much. It used to be that I put music off because of how much I had on my computer. The routine makes it manageable for me.

10-23-2011, 10:32 AM	#9 (permalink)
~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 4,538	I went through a phase where I was acquiring so much obscure music so rapidly, which was a hobby I very much enjoyed, that I began feeling as though I hadn't paid my dues and heard enough of the "legendary", "famous" or "must hear before you die" type albums. I couldn't really hold up a conversation about music because all I was really into was archived vinyl type stuff from blogs and mainstream wise a few 90s Alternative bands. So I made the unfortunate decision to hold off on collecting/enjoying obscure records while I set out to hear the "greatest" albums of all time. I listened to quite a few of them, but what ended up happening is relegating them to a folder and never opening them again, save for a song coming on shuffle now and again. I found I could never listen to all the music people "expected" me to have listened to, and went back to just listening to what I enjoy. Now I have a fairly good size music collection made up of a lot of things I haven't heard, some of which still surprise me occasionally and I discover music without ever logging onto MB.

10-23-2011, 12:46 PM	#10 (permalink)
RVCA （￣ー￣） Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 3,270	I download a lot of music, but I justify it by assuring myself that music will not always be free in such a manner. The internet as a great frontier of unabashed freedom to upload and share and download whatever you want is something I just don't feel is a sustainable model. I really do think that, at some point in the future, I will not be able to go and download CCR's discography on a whim, so what's the harm in acquiring it now? I keep everything neat and tidy, and I listen to most of it. I have plenty of hard drive space, too. Also, bear in mind that due to the digital format music has evolved into, the music collections we are creating now will be with us for the rest of our lives. That's a pretty significant motivator for me to acquire as much of it as I please.