This may be a little off-topic, but how do you find time to mess with electronics when you have 337,000 tracks of music to listen to? I would be totally spent just trying to listen to my music before I pass away (I’m 60). Is the collection of tracks the basis of your hobby, with listening a secondary by-product? Counting records, CDs and digital files, I have a bit over 10,000 tracks in my collection, some of which I haven’t listened to in years, and probably half which will likely never get listened to again. Of course, TIDAL streaming makes up about a third of my listening.
In my own case I have about 100,000 tracks. I’ve collected music that I like starting with my first record I received as a present when I was a kid in 1965. And I’ve been buying CDs since the mid 1980s.
It is not about having time to listen to every single track multiple times (athough I can say I have listened to everything I own at least once, but I’ve had 50 years to do this!). In my case, it’s about having that particular song or album at a particular time you want it. On a nice Saturday afternoon like today I might want a particular thing to play, and I have it. I might never play it again. Or I might. And if a visitor at a party says, “hey, do you have any XXX?” I can say, sure, I happen to have this album. Then there’s the artists that I am a completest for and want everything they produced.
I think for some folks, it’s not “all about the music.” More like “all about the music collecting.”
I found myself getting into this mode: acquiring for acquisition’s sake.
No offense intended. Speaking of myself too.
Messing with electronics never stopped me from listening to music.
You can do both at the same time
I don’t collect music especially releases I may seldom play again. I go thru my music a couple of times a yearend cull the stuff that no longer interests me. I delete if from my hard drive and sell or give away the CD. Should I want to hear a track again I have the option of looking for it on Tidal. If it’s not available, I play something else. Life too short to hang onto stuff you don’t use.
Point taken. For me, my alternative passion would have been antique/classic cars (I dabbled a bit when younger). Music is a much cheaper hobby and takes way less space!
p.s. My main music passion is LIVE music, and I attend as many live shows as I can (seeing both established artists and local or upcoming artists).
I understand. I am a reluctant collector. I have sold/donated/thrown out several times more records and CDs than I own. I only keep around 200 record albums, and have a policy that if a new one comes in, and old one goes out. Same with CDs (but they are smaller, and I keep around 500). Most of my digital files are copies of records and CDs that I have removed from my physical collection. Now with TIDAL, I usually don’t even bother with that. I am assuming that soon most everything ever recorded will be available for streaming.
I do enjoy the record album ritual: buying, opening, handling, and reading the cover and notes while listening. I usually listen to the whole album in one sitting, then keep it in current rotation for a period of time (anywhere from a couple of months to a few years – some records seem to be in permanent current rotation).
Great thing about this hobby is how everybody approaches it differently. I have friends who who think I’m nuts to give away valuable record albums, and other friends who have huge digital collections that listen to only favorite tracks and could care less for the liner notes. I also know people who spend 90% of their hobby time tinkering with their rigs (and listen to the same 10 tracks over and over), and I know people who only have ear buds plugged into their phone and thoroughly enjoy their music. Everybody’s happy!