Music....More Music!!

I've noticed recently that quite a few people are, to a certain extent, moving away from Hi-Fi in the strictest sense (hardware) and heading towards purchasing more music.

There have been a number of things said I could quote, but they essentially boil down to a preference of spending disposable income on software, rather than hardware. I've been looking at my own music collection including vinyl, cassettes and CDs and one thing that a once quite high standing forum member said keeps playing on my mind, it went along the lines of “show me someone with more than 500 CDs and I'll show you a collection of which 90% is never playedâ€Â

It has stuck with me since he said it many moons ago and to a large extent it's spot on. I frequently look at my not massive, but also not small collection, and never cease to find something I want to listen to, so how much more do I need? How many hours in the day are there to listen to all of this new music?

I understand the issues of depriving ones self and of “missing out on so muchâ€Â, but when do you stop, I wouldn't even like to take a guess at how many albums and singles are released every single day the world over, you can't buy them all, so is everyone depriving themselves?

Anyway those are my thoughts on it, I'll shut up now and let this one run, everyone's opinion on the subject warmly welcome.

Cheers,
RDD

PS – There are probably more appropriate sections of the forum for this to go, but since the threads about leaving Hi-Fi to buy music have been left to run here, I feel it only fair to let this have a good crack of the whip to.

 

Its not just about the music though. In my case its abouting collecting records (vinyl and even CDs). I now have 250 CDs and 60 LPs and I don't intend to stop here. There is always more music I want to do discover and investigate.

I have just come to find spending £30 on music is for more pleaserable then spending £30 on an interconnect and not being interly convinced its done any good.

I still plan to spend money on HIFI but at the moment since upgrading my CD player its fine and I don't need to upgrade.

 

If you always buy the latest record, it will happen, what I try to do is to listen to new music on radio or TV, Mezzo is great for that, and only buy very good performances or recordings...

 

I don't remember who said that but I think it's largely true, particularly of pop/rock/dance music. I have about 600-650 CDs of which about 450-500 are neither classical nor jazz (henceforth referred to as "pop" for the sake of brevity) and I know that I could probably lose half of them and not notice.

Of the "pop" records I have my listening tends to be limited to the last 10-20 CDs I've bought and a handful of classics/keepers. I just find "pop" music so transient, and dance music is even worse in this respect. This is one of the reasons my music buying has shifted back more to classical and jazz as I find it has so much more staying power.

From '94 to about '97 I must have bought at least a 150 CDs of britpop acts like Oasis, Blur, Menswear, Suede, Ocean Colour Scene, Pulp etc. and I'm fairly sure I will never listen to any of them again. I liked it then but don't like it much now. I'm only keeping them because of the "collector" instinct in me.

As for spending the money on music instead of hifi I find the "my upgrading is finished, now it's all about the music" type of post a bit disingenuous. For many (most?) people into hifi it's just as much about the kit as it is about the music and there's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't make someone less of a music lover if they like to tinker around with different bits of kit. Hifi is a hobby, it's "boys with toys" and all that.

If it was really all just about the music then a Denon M31 mini system or a £500-£1000 s/h separates system, or even an iPod would be all you'd need.

Michael.

 

The hifi is just a means of playing the music. Well, not "just" a means. It's obviusly a hobby with intself, but ultimately, that's what it's about.

However, there's obviously a reason spend sometimes huuuuuuuge aMOunts on hifi. Obvioulsy there's people who just wish to impress and such, but the majority of people find that with better kit, the music just does so much MOre. It's no longer just chucking something on in the background (though it can be), it's MOre like a performance. Good/better kit should bring MOre out of the music.

If you never fail to find something that's great. I often find myself wanting a certain vibe for a particular MOment. Although there's normaly always something there, or something near enough, which once it starts seems to be just right anyhow, sometimes I find myself looking for a while.

Diversity and quality of the quantity is what counts IMO.

I get excited about the whole process of discovering new music. I love stumbling across something I've never heard of (often through amazons "people who bought this also....." thingy), then hearing a few tracks and it being something of interest. I was looking on a website earlier where you can upload your own tracks and people can search the site by genre and other ways. Some good stuff on there! Will have a proper look later (if I can find the link).

I used to love it when I was into buying 12" stuff. Root through the racks, and pick something out purely on a hunch. Cover, name, press release, etc...

Discovering new music is part of the fun for me

 

Re: Re: Music....More Music!!

It is! In fact, it's far MOre than what you "need". However, it's not what you "want".

picky MO

 

This post seems to hit a number of nails on the head. I have recently found myself with nothing to read on the Hi-Fi bit as various individuals rage about various appendages to their kit. It strikes me that Hi-fi is about listening to music, and if it becomes about what your gear sounds like there is something wrong. Some of my friends get more pleasure out of their cheap midi systems than some people here apparently get out of their x thousand pound systems. Me I'd rather buy more music now. If the money was to roll in I'd buy something better, but I think my system sounds pretty damn good, and the equal of anything else I've heard for real world money. Come on chaps lets get a sense of reality the law of diminishing returns looms large in this business.
As for the 90% rule, I'm sure it's true, but on some occasions I like to drag something out I've not heard for years. Especially with classical music, I might go to a concert hear something I like and go and find my record of it. I also enjoy collecting for collectings sake, hence I have about 2000 classical lp's and still growing. If I sold it I bet I could get enough to buy some real quality kit, but what would I play on it?
Right I'm going to hide behind my sofa

:duck: and wait for the replys

 

Bang on. For many years (until about 3 years ago) I used a budget Dual CS505/NAD 3020/Mission setup. It's certainly possible to enjoy music with that kind of gear, and very easy to forget about the kit.

Now I have a setup that cost many many times more. And it's better, in all respects. Worth the money better? Given that I have music playing virtually all the time, and the current system does a great job either playing background music or when I'm concentrating on what's playing, yes, of course.

I can certainly revert to cheaper set ups without too much problem (the Linn Classik in the bedroom and the Onix OA21 in the kitchen are very good in their own ways), but the main system simply is, in all important musical respects, far superior.

As for having too many records, not possible IMO. True, I have so many that years may go by between me listening to something more than once, but I wouldn't give up the flexibility of having too much choice. I happily spend hours playing things I'd forgotten all about. The secret, IMO, is not to separate recent purchases from the older stuff; as soon as something new is played, it goes in the collection in the appropriate alphabetical place. Just the process of doing that will inevitably draw my eye to something nearby I'd forgotten about, something I may have bought months or years before.

-- Ian

 

Shouldn't that be - "show me somone with more than 500 cds, of which 90% aren't played and I'll show you someone who seemingly hasn't a clue what music they like or ought to be buying?"

 

Re: Re: Music....More Music!!

Funny thing!

I've got a few regulars. But I still play the rest of my collection. Perhaps a couple of the regulars (often newer ones and fav's), and a few from the rest that take my fancy. Closing the eye and pointing at the shelves tends to work Or with the ones in a folder thing, just seeing where it opens.

There's obviously a few "Once a yearers", which often find their way into the player purely down to poor closed eye-pointy finger judgement, or curiosity/concious effort.

Back to the "funny thing" (hillllllllllllllllllarious I tells ya!). The least played, and least likely to be played stuff is, like you, the britpop! At the time it was good, but all seems quite tacky and fake now. Strange. There's still nostalgia I've played Elastica Echobely, and Sleeper lately, but probably wont for a while again now. Out of those you mentioned Blurs new album is one I play regularly.

Britpop = shitpop?

 

I also used to browse my records once in a while, and play some I hadn't listened to for a while...

This hobby has an edge of utility over most others, so we spend more with less guilt, at least we use it all the time, when I did photografy, spent a lot of money, but stopped using it when the kids become boring...

 

Its funny isn't it, how this 'hobby' can become MOre important than the music.

I have a good few cds, but have not done much buying lately, and I do get tired of the same old ones, so if I had a lot, I would listen to different ones, MOre. Groan.

Music is a commodity, its not made to last, just to cash in on the moment, it may exhilerate for a quick while, and then not satisfy, very much like a hard drug.

I have a theory that something that is created very quickly will not have any staying power, and that is true of todays music.

It needs an apprenticeship and takes years and discipline to do something properly, music that is made in an instant dies as quick too.

Classical and Jazz for this reason seem to be 'deeper' and have more listenability, more depth, meaning, and freshness every time. Even these you can get bored of if you hear too much tho.

 

That depends on what you listen to.
Music vs HIFi is not a zero-sum game. At least of for those of us who are audiofoolish. The better my system gets, the more I want to feed it, and conversely whenever I've had to drop back down, playing music has become less pleasurable and I've been less inclined to buy - at least temporarily while I readjust to a different (generally worse) sound.

 

That's just a question of listening to serious music rather than throwaway pop (nothing wrong with the latter if that's what you want BTW). It's not always classical or jazz (it just is 99% of the time ), but traditionally art music has always taken the form of what is generally recognised as "classical". We're heading dangerously for musicological and aesthetic philosophy waters here...

 

I agree with what Joel said. Since my most recent phase of audiophilia and resultant upgrades started (about a year or so ago) I'm definitely listening to a lot more music.

Prior to that I had a Marantz CD50SE, Arcam Alpha 6+ and a pair of Heybrook Point 5 speakers (which is now my office system allthough the speakers are Tannoy mx2s - one of my cats having shredded the woofers of the Heybrooks :torkmada: ). It was perfectly OK but my system now is just sooooo much better I can enojy the music so much more.

Once I've finished the power amp though that will be it on the 2ch. side for quite a while.

Ian, I don't separate recently bought CDs from the old ones. They do go straight into their alphabetically correct slot but I rarely find that tempting me to play something adjacent.

Michael.

 

It's funny you should bring up that "500 CDs and only 10% get played" rule, as it's true in my case!

Mind you, I seriously considered paring down what I own when I next move (highly imminent now) and I can't bring myself to junk ANY of my music. Including all those crappy "cassingles" I have.

I might do a cull one day, but I can't even bring myself to chuck out "Jacky" by Marc Almond or "Abide by me" by Vic Reeves! I mean, you never know when you'll want to hear something again and I have a habit of "walking through" my collection on rainy Saturdays or whatever, just pulling out tracks to listen to. If I got rid of anything sod's law'll dictate I'll then want to hear it.

 

Yeah, not a good idea to get rid of stuff unless its a real stinker (and personally I rather like Jacky by Marc Almond ). However if I do get a real stinker - it doesn't last too long in the collection proper - if its worth anything it gets ebayed - if it isn't it goes to the charity shop (which is probably where it came from in the first place).

The only problem is trying to work out if something really IS a stinker or just something which requires a bit of patience to get into (though sometimes its obvious). Lots of records I've listened to once, not thought it was brilliant and not listened to again for a long while - only to pick it up and really get into it a later stage - some music is just not immediately accessible and requires a bit of perseverance. Probably quite few sleepers still in there.

The other thing of course is there is stuff in the collection which I may not personally like, but others do. Can't say I'm a big fan of my copies of Elvis' Blue Hawaii or Cliff's The Young Ones - but my Mum is

 

Hi,

Interesting.

I'm always saying to my mates that 'you can never have to much music.' That seems to be the case for me.

I buy a lot of music. I listen to a lot of music. I work in the music industry. I love music.

Having a large collection has given me good musical choice. I can have a broad selection in each listening session. Also having a large collection has given me a good musical knowledge & understanding of many types of music.

I do have a number of records & cds that I have never listen to. Some of these are still in their shrink wrap. This is not too hard to achieve due to buying a number of record collections over the years. But I can say that I listen to more 10% of my collection.

I too enjoy collecting for the sake of collecting. This is another side of music that can be rewarding. I like the hunting down & buying process. I like the reading of the sleeve notes & doing the research to find the records & cds. I also like the element of risk in finding new (& old) music.

One thing I find is that I don't always tire of most of the stuff in my collection. What I liked 30+ years ago, I still like now. What I liked 30 days ago I still like now & so on.

I don't agree that classical & Jazz are 'deeper', more listenable, more meaning, etc. There are plenty of 'recent' styles of music that can match these styles. A lot depends on what you want from your music.

I too like to delve into my collection to find stuff I have not played for ages & still get enjoyment out of. An example of this was a Scritti Politti album which I dug out last year, ' Songs to remember'. I had not played this since the late 80s/early 90s.

I do agree that you can enjoy your music on a cheap system. A better one should give you more enjoyment.

As for trimming down your collection. I do this all the time with stuff I pick up. But the money I make usually goes on more records & cds.

SCIDB

 

I suppose I used to be the same, listening to a fraction of my collection.
But since I have put it all on a computer I hear much more. If I can't decide what to listen to, I just hit random.

It's amazing how many tracks I either don't recognise or had forgotten how bloody good they are.

 

Guys music is like a library.

Stuff may not get played in years but its essential that on that one night with friends round and one pipes up with 'do you have...' that you are able to pull it out.

I have bought some bum notes, but I won't ditch them because in my experience the first listen can put you right off, but months mabye years later you might pick it out and it could be the best thing you ever heard.

A case in fact for 'Big Bud' my girlfriend bought this and put it on, I told her it was crap and I never heard it again, however around a year later I loved it totally.

muis is essential