How does one consume music?
Well, both methods are acceptable, seemingly with streaming being the preferred method of many.
But not me ... me, dinosaur. I like physical product (CD mainly, but I maintain a vinyl collection) and only really use streaming as a "try before you buy" option, or in the case of Youtube, something to listen to as the muse and the moment occurs.
There is an element of ritual, and perseverance, with physical product. One must go through in the order given to arrive at favourite choices, and who knows by doing this you just might find new delights in an album you thought you knew inside out.
Cherry picking is all very well, and has it's place (see the Youtube reference above), but you wouldn't choose to watch a film and fast-forward through to your favourite scenes, spin on again to another, and then select another film for a 30 second scene.
No, so why do it with music?
I do "get" the concept, and inexorable rise of streaming but just do not indulge myself.
But I am more than happy for others of my acquaintance to go down this route (even if I have to put up with the conversation telling me how many albums they have stored on their phone).
Why? Because as they have decluttered themselves and are now living with 1s and 0s, I am gradually filling up my house with the unwanted product.
Weekends and evenings can be spent going through boxes saying "Got, Got, Need, Interesting ..." in a sort of musically-flavoured shoutback to collecting Panini Football stickers as a kid.
So I'm filling gaps in the collection, finding new stuff I never got round to buying first time out or never actually knew I wanted. But, I'm also finding myself stumbling across stuff that I have no interest in, but at least can claim ownership.
A great voyage of discovery is on the cards, but I am constantly asked (and my wife does have a good point here): "where are you going to put it all?".
And this is true - I am rapidly running out of storage space (again!), and now need to start getting creative about my storage solutions.
There is some shelf space I can commandeer - basically, that space that was left unshelved/unfilled with the express intention of breaking up the flow with ornaments and general toys and (so I'm told) "it doesn't look like a flipping record shop".
Well, some of the boxsets I can move to the top of the units, some of the inaccessible spaces can be made accessible. but ... space is becoming premium.
The compilations may have to be moved to another bookcase (sadly, in another room - which breaks the cardinal rule of having the collection all in one place).
The second option is to do a bit of pruning by getting shot of the things I'm just never going to listen to, but have ownership of (does anyone want a complete set of Robbie Williams CDs?).
When asked where I will put it all, my response is the same: "It's OK, I'll find room"
Thing is, I'm not so sure at the moment.
There's a fine line between a collector and a hoarder ... but I don't believe I have crossed it yet
I was particularly drawn to the cartoon!
ReplyDeleteJM
Likewise
ReplyDeleteJust started going through my boxes of Mojo and Uncut comps and putting them on a memory stick prior to them going to charity.
You raise some important points, but I'm with you 100%. I use streaming to try new things but when I find things I like, I prefer / need to have the physical item. Of course, in some cases that's not possible as it's either a) not available on CD (hard to believe, but I have come across some artists who appear to make music just to stream) or b) too rare / expensive. In the latter case at least, streaming at least makes it possible to hear music I'd otherwise never have had a chance of hearing in the past.
ReplyDeleteAnd the storage issue... quite. Like you, I enjoying filling the gaps in my collection (and in many cases replacing old CDs that I was forced to sell in the past when finances were a lot more stretched), but there's a fine line between collecting and hoarding, as you say.
Cardinal rules, I think there are three: the collection must be in one room, of course, the second is that it is illegal to dispose of any purchases. And this is the third: a belief in using a genre-based system of storage, one that is undoubtedly very logical to the cataloguer but totally baffling to one's partner.
ReplyDeleteWhen the one room is full rule 2 becomes a challenge
ReplyDelete