
Too Much Music: A Failed Experiment in Dedicated Listening - JasonFruit
https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/01/16/578216674/too-much-music-a-failed-experiment-in-dedicated-listening
======
munificent
The author touches on this only glancingly, but it's something I've been
thinking about a lot lately. I too have been suffering from information
overload, mostly from social media apps on my phone. I have mostly solved it
recently by getting a new phone and not installing any of those apps.

My goal is to get back to the state where I am actually bored sometimes,
because being bored is an opportunity to think and let my brain work through
some of the information I've already jammed into my short-term memory.

Insulating myself from media works, but it's a _choice_ , and that choice
itself has a cost. Before smartphones and the Internet, I could be in a state
where I wasn't overloaded with information _and I wasn 't spending an iota of
effort to maintain that state._ I can be in that state now, but I am
constantly paying a mental tax to keep those shields up. Don't install the
app, don't let myself spend too much time on reddit (or here for that
matter...).

It may be that there _is_ no solution to this problem short of radically
excising myself from modern society. But I do hope we come up with broader
solutions to it than what we have now where it's all on each of us to maintain
constant, exhausting, vigilance against the tide of data that seeks to wash us
away.

~~~
daodedickinson
How can you feel bored instead of guilty? Whenever I pause, I just feel bad
about things undone. This week I realized I haven't been bored since high
school started, because at that point there was always something I "should" be
doing that I wasn't. Haven't been bored in over a decade and I feel I probably
won't again, though I try.

~~~
Delmania
> How can you feel bored instead of guilty? Whenever I pause, I just feel bad
> about things undone.

It's a bit cliche, but if you were to die soon, what things would you seek to
finish before you die so you can die content? What do you want your legacy to
be? The stoic practice of meditating on your eventual death is a great way to
put things into perspective.

------
spookyuser
I love and totally agree with this article.

Anecdotally at least, I can see an objective drop in the amount of songs I
listen to now on my Spotify account versus eight years ago on my iPod. When I
had to download individual mp3s and transfer them with a cable to my iPod I
would probably have made a playlist of new songs every few weeks or so. Now
the only time I ever 'make a playlist' is perhaps once a year. In fact, if
there isn't a long trip I'm going on sometimes I don't make a new playlist for
an entire year. Part of the problem in this is that there are simply too many
songs to add to a new playlist. If I go back through just my spotify likes
there could easily be three hundred+ I would need to collate and that's not
including Soundcloud or YouTube. This means that when I've finally gathered
together a playlist of songs I want listen to it can be 300/400 songs long,
meaning I can listen to it for an entire year and some songs will only have
been listened to once and others not at all.

This, like the author, strikes me as being so much worse than when I was
deeply listening to, if not albums, playlists over and over again for a couple
of weeks. They might have only had a dozen or so songs but I knew each of them
well and enjoyed them too. Now I can't think of one song in my last mega-
playlist that I could recall offhand.

What's even worse is that this clearly applies to more than music. I have an
enormous goodreads list that I will almost certainly never finish. A year of
Netflix shows that I am perpetually behind on, and a Pocket list that still
has articles from the 2016 election.

I don't know what the solution to this is, but there is definitely something
weirdly limiting to having an unlimited number of x.

~~~
zodPod
In creative ventures we tend to try artificially limiting ourselves. I know
that is easier said than done but if you can say something like "I will only
use five instruments" or "I will only read books that are non-fiction" or "I
will only listen to (genre) of music" or something you then have a focus and
it's no longer just an overwhelming list of white noise!

------
busterarm
I have mixed feelings about this article, agreeing with points and vehemently
disagreeing with others. In particular I don't like the consumption rules for
music.

I have pretty anomalous/extreme music listening patterns. I've listened to
every album in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (all editions of
it...) at least once. When I was working remotely, I listened to about 16
hours of music every day, about 2/3 of that time spent listening to new music.
I've done experiments where I've listened exclusively to Billboard & Oricon
chart records for years at a time. I listened to Meshuggah's Catch 33 at least
4 times a day every day for a year and a half. Lately, I tend to spend my time
devouring entire genres, learning all of the major talents & producers and the
connections between them. My knowledge has become somewhat encyclopedic --
like a more-expansive, more-complete, mental version of Ishkur's Guide to
Electronic Music.

Once I learned that lyrics don't matter to me, I stopped reading them along
with listening. I stopped reading liner notes. I haven't picked up a physical
copy of an album in at least 9 years. If anything, the changing music
consumption patterns have enabled me to appreciate more music in a manner that
I prefer. Maybe it's okay for people to appreciate music the way they want and
not to have to put albums on some pedestal anymore like people did with 70s
Prog Rock.

Through all of this, I've retained my ability to be critical of music. Heck,
I'm a cohost of a podcast where all we do is critique music. I would argue
that it's not the change in consumption pattern that's to blame here, but
rather a lack of tastemakers in public society and extremely negative
reactions to criticism of any sort. Critical opinions are faux pas in our
culture pretty much universally these days.

~~~
davehtaylor
>a lack of tastemakers in public society

I would call this a good thing. I despise the idea of someone telling me what
I should or shouldn't like, as though I have no mind of my own to decide what
I do or don't like, and as though _they_ are somehow superior and have some
kind of enlightened outlook on things that I could never hope to achieve.

~~~
busterarm
You're just exemplifying what I said later where critique is unwelcome.

I don't think media is some egalitarian process where everyone is celebrated
just for doing something. There's a lot out there in popular culture that is
just outright technically flawed. Or just crap -- trust me, I've listened to
more crap music and watched more crap movies than probably anyone (I much
prefer to talk about the stuff I love though). We should be celebrating the
stuff that's truly outstanding, not just because it's popular. Some really
outstanding work isn't comfortable for the viewer/listener either.

Do you even know what you really like anymore? A lot of stuff is just rammed
down our throats. Your brain triggers that dopamine hit just for recognizing
the pattern regardless. It's good for business, but is it _good_?

I guess it all depends on how you about whether you feel media is artwork or
entertainment.

------
meri_dian
I'm not sure if I'm unique in this respect, but I have about 15 to 20
songs/mixes/pieces that I regularly listen to. I never get tired of them, and
they are satisfying enough to me that I don't need to really seek out new
music.

What does happen to me is that every 2 years or so I find that I get on a
particular kick to listen to a certain type of music. This happened to me with
baroque/classical/romantic orchestral music recently, but again I eventually
reached a point where I had found about 15-20 pieces that I would repeatedly
listen to and no longer needed new pieces as I was so satisfied with what I
had found.

It's not that I don't love music. I do, and each day I listen to it for 2-3
hours.

~~~
maxxxxx
I do something similar but I am not sure if it's a good thing. Sometimes I
feel it feeds my autistic tendencies.

~~~
meri_dian
I'm not diagnosed autistic but I definitely have strong obsessive and ADHD
tendencies about things I get interested in.

For music, the pieces I find myself listening to repeatedly have a particular
quality that I can't really describe, but they just sound so good, so perfect,
that they make me feel transcendent .. it's honestly like sex. I like all
music and I'm cool with having anything on in the background while I'm doing
work, but when I'm really determined to focus on what I'm listening to I need
to listen to the music I love, and the list of that music is very short.

~~~
maxxxxx
That's exactly how I feel. I have a few pieces of music that speak to me and
have done this for many years. Sometimes I find something new but that's rare.
I am also not diagnosed but all the signs for some level of autism are there.

~~~
zodPod
Just want to add, same all around!

------
sfindie
I never understand why people obtain music only to put it on a listening To-Do
list and then never get around to it.

I guess there's people who collect music and then there's others who listen to
the records they collect.

Call me weird, but I'd feel ashamed to get a record and never listen to it.
All of the 34,000+ songs in my music library has graced my ears at least once.

~~~
coldtea
> _Call me weird, but I 'd feel ashamed to get a record and never listen to
> it. All of the 34,000+ songs in my music library has graced my ears at least
> once._

If that "at least once" was actually "just once" for most of then, then you're
not that different from those other people then, as songs as meant for
multiple listens. A cursory single listen (and perhaps while doing something
else at the time too, or with skipping forward) it's not much different than
no listen at all.

~~~
klodolph
The idea that a song is meant for multiple listens is an interesting claim but
does not support the argument. If you won't like a song then what is the
purpose of listening to it again? This whole perspective is backwards. Is it
our responsibility to listen to songs multiple times, or is it simply the goal
of an artist to make songs that we would listen to multiple times?

What any object is "meant for" shouldn't dictate how you use it.

~~~
coldtea
> _Is it our responsibility to listen to songs multiple times, or is it simply
> the goal of an artist to make songs that we would listen to multiple times?_

Ours obviously. Only trivial pop can be dismissed (or ear-worm its way) on a
single listen. And the best works, the ones with the most depth, take multiple
listenings to even begin to fully appreciate.

One might not care about all this, and drop stuff they bought/downloaded to
listen summarily in one listening. It's a free country, and nobody says they
should be forced to do otherwise.

But then -- and that's my argument, that person is not that different than
people amassing tons of music and not hearing most of it even once. They might
be slightly more involved, but not much more.

> _What any object is "meant for" shouldn't dictate how you use it_

Well, that's one viewpoint, a modern consumerist, where it's all about the
individual and their whims, where their taste, consumption habits, and choices
shouldn't be questioned.

I opt for another, older viewpoint, where the individual should raise
themselves to appreciate culture (music, books, movies, etc) and their choices
can always be questioned and improved, and they can (and should) always strive
to be better educated on them. In other words, a master work of art, does very
much dictate how people use it, and if they're ever gonna get it, they should
follow that path.

~~~
JasonFruit
I'm not convinced that it's as obvious as you say, once the listener has
"raise[d] themselves to appreciate culture." Once you've gained some
appreciation for and understanding of music, within styles to which you're
accustomed, you develop a sense of what will reward further listening and what
will not. Is it infallible? Probably not. But even if it's not good enough for
a published critic, it's enough to find me good music to listen to.

------
tonetheman
I love this quote.

'claimed that we only ever really love 10 albums, and we spend the rest of our
listening lives seeking facsimiles of those 10, pursuing the initial rush, so
to speak'

I too did the calculation from article about how much music I had amassed and
could never listen to all of it. Good stuff.

~~~
mikestew
Sure, I still seek the thrill of, say, putting Rush’s _2112_ on the turntable
for the first time, but I’m not going to get that by seeking out _2112_
clones. Those moments now only come when I branch out. The breathy ambience of
School of the Seven Bells doesn’t get found looking under the “prog rock”
category. I mean, I see what the quote is getting at, but I just can’t see
myself trying to relive the 70s. For one, despite having purchased everything
in the Led Zepplin catalog at least twice, I’m getting just a little sick of
what I grew up with. Might explain why I currently play bluegrass on a
mandolin, and the Strat hangs on the wall.

~~~
scarecrowbob
Ha. That quote in the parent literally triggered in my brain "Tom Sawyer".

At this point, I totally don't like any "prog rock" other than Rush (unless
you want to count Primus).

What you write is super relatable.

I grew up listening to a lot of punk rock and older stuff including a lot of
Zep, Beatles, Rush, Yes and all kinds of stuff.

I just turned 40 and I'd much rather play and listen to old jazz or country.
Most of my guitar and piano playing ends up being blues, though it's fun to
cover Hendrix on a piano. Hell, I'd rather listen to my kid's vaporwave stuff
or, say, Neon Indian, than make another pass through Zep IV.

I play a lot of bluegrass (guitar, upright bass, banjo, dobro, etc) but can't
hardly stand to listen to it. About the only stuff I can stand to listen to
and work on playing at the same time is the Dead and related groups. Maybe
that's like jazz but for late 20th century rock... I dunno.

~~~
abakker
Check this out:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuhHU_BZXSk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuhHU_BZXSk)

I think that provides enough inversion while still hitting the right points in
my brain.

~~~
scarecrowbob
I'd forgotten about that... thanks for reminding me :D

------
klodolph
Sure, people in their 30s will continue to grapple with their relationship
with music. I know people of all ages who had some kind of revelatory
experience putting on some particular songs or albums in high school. I can
still remember what I was doing, where I was, and who I was with when I first
listened to Led Zeppelin I, Tommy, or Hotel (by Moby). Hotel isn't even that
good an album! But the same is true of other media like movies and video
games. And it's true of people. Your first friends and your first loves change
your life. Those experiences get farther and farther apart as you get older,
and it has nothing to do with technology.

The author seems to have taken up some kind of impossible geas as a
countermeasure. Imagine if you thought you talked too much in conversations
and so you took a vow of silence. It's a bit extreme. I take a different
approach: my music library is sorted by purchase date, and anything at the top
will only get pushed out after a few listens. I don't have to force myself to
do anything, I'm just too lazy to look past the first page very often. This
works equally well with iTunes and with physical media, and it gives me a
chance to really fall in love with new albums, even if I don't get the same
feeling I got when I was 15.

Technology may have radically changed the way we consume music but our
relationship to music is largely the same. The only difference is that you're
older. Loving someone feels different at 15 and 30, and loving music is the
same way.

Edit: The part about novels is a bit weird. Remember that Brothers Karamazov
was published as a serial. Moby Dick was a flop and didn't sell well until it
was republished 40 years later, after Melville's death. So if anything, those
examples illustrate the point that literary fiction doorstops have never been
that popular. However, these days we have monstrous epics dominating genre
fiction. Rowling proved that young children will pay good money to read a
3,400 story across seven books, the same way you'd binge Netflix, and I've
known a few people who as children had to replace their hardbound Harry Potter
books just from ordinary use. Page counts are, if anything, ballooning in
genre fiction and the shelves are dominated by trilogies and longer series.

------
fenwick67
> Each week's album must be something you own in physical, "hard copy" form,
> because the experience must involve interaction with the object as a whole.
> You will read liner notes and lyrics, and engage with the artwork. Become
> familiar with names of band members. Learn the producer's name. Where was
> the album recorded? What time of year? Can you hear this in the music?

I absolutely hate this fetishization of the music creation process, and I
think this might be the writer's real problem.

These stories about the studio and the producer and the band members' favorite
flavor ice cream sell records and give context for the music, but they aren't
the music. To obsess over these details is to not see the forest for the
trees.

------
xamuel
The author's problem is he's cast his net way too wide. Even if we limit
ourselves to e.g. Rolling Stone Magazine's "Top 500 albums of all time", it
would take a decade to deep-listen all 500. With that much super-high-quality
music, which has stood the test of time and left its mark on culture, the
author is making a huge mistake by wasting so much time on the ridiculous
obscura he keeps name-dropping in the article.

------
freetime2
The timing of this story is interesting to me because my Apple Music
subscription is set to end today. On the one hand, I've really enjoyed the
service as it has allowed me to discover many new artists and even genres that
I like. On the other hand, I can really identify with the author when he says
that "all music is becoming Muzak".

The turning point for me happened recently on a road trip when I opened up my
music library and tried to find something to play. While I have "liked" a
large number of songs and albums in the last year which now show up in my
"library", it turns out that the majority of them are not something that I
would choose to go back to after a listen or two. I can't even remember what a
surprising number of albums in my library are! And so it happened that with my
library of 130-ish new albums that I've added in the past year, I couldn't
find anything that I wanted to listen to, and listened to the radio instead.

My plan is to take the $10/mo that I was spending on my subscription, buy a
new album every month or two, and really listen to it before moving on to the
next new thing.

~~~
KozmoNau7
I struggled with this in the first few months of my Spotify subscription.

The solution is to be a _lot_ more critical about which songs you save. All of
those other songs are still there, you can find them quickly if you want to
listen to them again. But your saved songs should be the _absolute_ favorites.

After 6 months, I have 718 saved tracks, and the rate at which I add new songs
has significantly tapered off. I occasionally stumble across a song that makes
me go "why did I save that?", and off the list it goes.

------
beat
I go through periods of "studying" particular records or musicians. It comes
easily and naturally to me, despite my large collection. Studying is often
related to my guitar playing, though, so it's often not a regular listen -
it's the act of jamming along, or rewinding and relistening to particular
passages to figure them out.

For the past couple of weeks, I've been on a massive Miles Davis kick -
particularly the _Agharta_ album (which, in the author's terms, is one of the
ten albums for me, that thing you want all other music to be). I'm trying hard
to grok certain Miles phrases harmonically, and capture the tonality of his
trumpet with a guitar, which is very challenging.

Work has given me a 300 mile each way commute this week, so I decided to spend
the long highway hours listening to the collected works of Wilco (I have every
Wilco album), beginning to end. This gets me listening to albums I usually
ignore, like A.M., and hearing the evolution of the music. Highway drives are
also a good time to dig into progressive rock albums - the musical equivalent
of 800 page novels, that reward close, long listens.

------
sureste
This may sound pretentious but from reading how this "experiment" was going to
be I knew it was a bad idea.

I get the idea here: wanting to have a deeper familiarity with some albums
you've only heard once (personally, I listen to albums/EPs before passing any
judgement) maybe some of them by a band that has produced one of your
"masterpiece" records.

But, on the other hand, I don't get why subjecting yourself strictly to some
music would be good. I find it better to listen to new music or music I have
not digested yet along with music that I love already.

Just make it part of your routine. Do you want to listen to that obscure
album? Just put it between some other music you enjoy or make that one your
first listen of the day. Making it part of your routine is a good idea but
variety is good and, in the case of the author, unavoidable. Especially
because the author is a record producer.

This is a no-go idea for me.

------
daodedickinson
The author is 39, so part of the symptoms are age of course, but I've had the
same burn out after playing way way too many different video games. I can't be
an "every genre" person anymore. I guess at some point I felt mortality and
had to start paring down.

------
slaymaker1907
IMO you won't truly understand a piece of music until you play it. It's sort
of weird, but I think there is something in the way it forces you to pay much
closer attention to details.

In some ways, it is kind of like how learning programming can change the way
you view a computer.

------
Synaesthesia
Autechre has to be the most far out music I’ve ever listened to. They really
push the boundaries of what could be called music. I often find myself
wondering, not only how they made it, but how I’m even making the slightest
bit of sense of it at all.

------
loorinm
Maybe I’m projecting, but it seems obvious to me that the author’s root
problem is that he isn’t producing any music.

Of course, I’m assuming he isn’t based on no mention of it in the article.

The natural result of observing and loving something is the desire to copy it.
That’s what humans do.

Such a lopsided preference for consumption over production suggests to me that
the author has some extreme repression, fear, etc. around making music, and
that energy is being channeled into this weird need to consume and judge other
people’s music.

I’d probably be this way if I didn’t make anything too.

Just my 2 cents.

------
flavio81
There is a difference between a _music lover_ and a _music collector_. Author
is a collector, thus buys stuff he knows he will never have the time to listen
to.

~~~
julian_t
Excellent observation.

I realized this about myself a year or so back... I'd collected a lot of
guitars, some reasonably rare, but most of them weren't getting played, and
were sitting in their cases or on the wall. Given the amount of free time I
have, there's no way I can really play a dozen guitars.

I'd turned into a collector rather than a guitar player. So I'm in the process
of selling most of them, leaving me with one of each type - 6 and 12-string
acoustic, National resonator, a lap steel and an acoustic bass. And the weird
thing is that I'm playing more and thinking about the music more and the
'stuff' less.

I have a strange relationship with recorded music. I find I know stuff off by
heart after 3 or 4 listens, and it lasts in memory. I can replay tracks in my
head, separate out the separate instrumental parts... I could sing you the
bass lines to any tune from 'Heavy Weather', even though I haven't listened to
it for years. And this remembered music plays pretty continuously on my
internal player, whether I want it to or not - anyone else find that?

There are a few tunes/songs that are in some way 'perfect'... I can listen to
them endlessly and they have a physical effect, but they are few and far
between.

