How the changing formats have impacted our listening habits/ music consumption preferences is fascinating .
Hasn't changed mine.
I have about 1500 CDs. I think there are five more in transit, from Brazil, and Japan.
Habit: I (somewhat) randomly listen to one, and leave it about 1/2" out when replaced into the shelf - it says "I listened to this recently".
When I want a CD (as opposed to the radio which gets a lot of use - Classical (WSMR) and Jazz 9WUSF) and Community Programming (WMNF) ) I somewhat randomly pick another not recently listened to.
It's not a hard rule to not relisten to one recently listened to, but you get the idea. When they're all cokeyed in the shelf, shove them back in, and pick an old favorite.
Takes a long time to go through them all, long enough to have forgotten what is on some of them, or even that I have them.
When I go to my systems these days, it is almost always to listen to something new I have discovered.
I'm not so much into "gotta hear something new", having heard and rejected plenty of "new" over the years. Too much half-assed intro, four notes verses, now with a modern clipped crescendo in 3 1/2 minutes out there for me to waste my time with. If listening to something "new", I sample the intro (the often somewhat unique prelude to "hook" you, the first verse, skip to see how long the four or five notes of the first verse repeat, make sure it has the
Big Crescendo, and then try another. I'm not that skilled a DJ, so I get bored with trying that activity rather quickly.
If I can anticipate the next note I tend to be less interested in listening to it. I prefer the surprise of the mentally unanticipated chord or rythym. Oddly, much of what I do listen to I can put on repeat and let it go for quite a while, so, ???
My collection has depth when I find someone/something I like. All of Carla Bley, Hermeto Pascoal, Kazumi Watanabe, Monk, Al DiMeola, and a few others. I prefer to hear the masters of a genre again, rather than try to find some imitation of it*.
I
mostly buy used now, too many favorites are dead or decrepit or already rich, so they won't miss my miserly contribution much.
I'll check something out on YouTube (or similar) if trying to make a purchase decision, but streaming (with me as DJ) doesn't wiggle my twig.
Color me dull and uninteresting and behind the times and all that. I can take it.
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*They say: "Gimme the tune. Do I like this tune? Does it sound like another tune that I like? The more familiar it is, the better I like it. Hear those three notes there? Those are the three notes I can sing along with. I like those notes very, very much. Give me a beat. Not a fancy one. Give me a GOOD BEAT -- something I can dance to. It has to go boom-bap, boom-boom-BAP. If it doesn't, I will hate it very, very much. Also, I want it right away -- and then, write me some more songs like that -- over and over and over again, because I'm really into music." - Frank Zappa
Those DXDs and DSDs take a ton of space though. The former is just insane in size.
