The Museum vs. Galleries

I used to play music from my collection (4K albums) nearly 100% of the time. With streaming sounding as good as my library I now listen to new music (or only listened to up to twice before) probably 90%+ of the time.

Streaming completely changed my approach to music.

This has changed for me. When I was first exploring Jazz, for example, it was very exciting. It seemed like an entire universe was waiting for me to discover it and most of what I listened to was previously unknown and recently purchased.

However, as the decades have gone by, I’ve found it harder and harder to find new (to me) music that I want to buy, so I tend to listen mostly to what’s become familiar.

This doesn’t mean I don’t still spend time looking for new music to buy. I do. But now, it takes a whole lot of looking/listening to find anything that really grabs me. It’s not because there’s a lack of music. My taste /personal preference is the limiting factor and it’s very stubborn!

As I've aged (late sixties now), I find I can finally now generate the same interest in investigating new music that once required a partner. When I was very young, my brother (who was eight years older), led me to the new rock and roll music of his generation (he went to college in '68). He used to give me quizzes - he dropped the needle on a section of record while I was blindfolded or otherwise couldn't see the album cover - and he'd make me say the group, the title of the record, and who was singing. It was fun, and it accelerated my music interest. He was my earliest guide. 

In my early twenties, a very close friend who lived nearby and I both dove into jazz together. We'd go record hunting and read books  and call each night to talk about what we had heard at our homes. We knew nothing about jazz when we started, but within a few years, we became at least somewhat knowledgeable, and quite passionate. An older teacher at the boarding school in which I taught was a piano and organ player, and knew his classical very well. He really helped me dip my toes into all that.

Now, I am (have to be) a self starter when it comes to new music. All these guides and partners of my past are no longer with me. I still favor the hunt over having the music - I guess I still want to go to the galleries more than to the museums. But some nights I just skip about using Roon and my tablet and the hundreds of CD's I burned into my server, and play single cuts with which I sing loudly and badly. And I love that trip to the museum. 

I have many thousands of LPs and over a thousand CD's. If the streaming stopped tomorrow, I would have plenty of music to explore and re-explore. But I will confess I love streaming. In some ways, streaming has become my partner in the hunt for new music. I still use it audition an album to see if I should buy the vinyl, 'cuz that's my preferred medium, but I buy way fewer records now, and use the streaming to feed the explorer in me.

Oh, and FM Radio. Boston still has good FM radio, and I learn a lot from both excellent experienced radio hosts, and also from the myriad student DJ's. I have a very good tuner that feels almost like cheating - free music and knowledgeable guides.

Thank you for sharing your stories about music listening. I liked how humble and interested you all seem...

i go through phases.   If I am busy and have less time to listen (lately) I listen to mostly things I like, because I haven't heard them for a while.  When I get a chance to go through my favorites, I'm more likely to go looking for new.  Wintertime and darkness generally results in more listening time.

Jerry

Back in the ’90s and early ’00s I listened to this great public radio station (91.3 WYEP) all of the time because they were usually playing music that was out of the mainstream. (When I do turn the dial there these days, it seems as if they have pretty much gone to playing well established oldies like everyone else.) Anyway, I discovered a lot of music that way, and that is what drove the purchases of most of my CDs back then. I am not aging as gracefully as I thought I was going to, and I don’t really feel the need and/or desire to listen to new stuff.

Occasionally I'll see a SACD on MD that I am not familiar with but I think looks interesting so I'll order it.  Occasionally I am disappointed.  I once bought a SACD by Judith Sills for $19 and change because I wanted something to get into the free shipping zone, and what a mistake that was.  I should have paid the shipping.