I have over a month's worth of music stored in my iPod, plus a pretty decent vinyl/CD collection, not to mention the unlimited goods of the internet. I literally have more music to listen to in my pocket than most other generations even HEARD in their entire lives. So why do I keep hunting out more, rather than just going back to old favourites? And am I losing something by not doing that?

oh god, I ask myself this question every single day, because I totally do this, too. I think it's just a natural curiosity--just wanting to know what's new out there--that, for me, isn't unique to music, but that certainly manifests itself in that artform. And also, I will admit to a bit of hipster hubris in this regard, vis-a-vis desiring to the be the one who knows about the "new thing" first and then shares it with others. Because there's nothing better than showing a new song to someone who you know will really love it, and just witnessing their appreciation for it. Do you know what I mean? and how can we be those people unless we keep searching for the "new thing"? that's my two cents, anyway.

(also, this is a cool idea)

I go back to old favorites on a regular basis, and don't put a lot of real effort into actively seeking out new music. I visit a record store once a month (at most -- sometimes there's a few months between visits).

I get about 15 minutes of radio in per day, and none of it is new music, as I'm listening to NPR on the way to work in the morning, and the drive home is the "Way-Back at 5", so I get to listen to early 90's alternative then.

The only new music I really hear is on television shows I watch, or when a friend tells me about it.

Donna, I'm with you, though, in wanting to be the the one who knows about the "new thing" first, but still 99 times out of 100, I will dive into my collection rather than seek something new.

Discovering new music can be a great joy. Our brains our wired to value unexpected rewards. I get goosebumps when I run across something that I really like. Other times the music seems to be just right for the time and place. "Add Some Music to Your Day" sums it up for me.

"our" should be "are" in the above post - wish I could edit that.

@donnalowe "I will admit to a bit of hipster hubris in this regard, vis-a-vis desiring to the be the one who knows about the "new thing" first and then shares it with others"

I barely know anyone who would care :(

This came up on my Tumblr dashboard today (I've invited the writer to join the conversation, we'll see). Heavily edited, this is the part I find relevant to this conversation: hi54lofi.tumblr.com

"Nickleback’s popularity is a pretty accurate way to gauge just how many people in the world are still totally plugged into a system that picks everything for them. A system that tells them what to listen to, what to watch, what to consume and what to think...

Nickleback’s success is the sign of the sucess of something much more sinister at work (and proof that it is still working well)."

I recommend reading the whole post, but I'm interested in the "music seeker = independent thinker" analogy. True? Or just what we (I?) tell ourselves?

@andrew re people not caring: Really? That's a shame, if it's true, but I find it hard to believe that someone you know doesn't think of you as the guy who "knows all the new music." I certainly have considered your tastes to be largely in line with my own, and I guess I consider myself to be one of those people (there's that hubris again :)).

But that Nickelback post (though I haven't read all of it yet) raises a good point. There's so much information to wade through now that most people either don't want to do so to find their own unique "good stuff," or they find the wading too daunting. But that just creates an opportunity for us to be good curators, doesn't it? Don't care what you listen to? Well, let me program for you then.

@Donna I guess I just don't have that many music friends? They're not Nickelback listeners, but I think many of them are more along the lines of finding one or two new artists every once in a while and enjoying them until someone else catches their ear. Or they just have quite different taste from me. That's why I find music services that connect to things like Facebook pretty useless, as I wrote about here: andrewkurjata.ca

I love my music collection, it's always good to go back and listen to my favorites. However there isn't anything like hearing a new song that you love for the first time.

I've been using Songza as my music discovery app to find new artists and genres that I'm fans of.

Songza, huh? I don't think I've checked that one out yet, but I will now. As long as it's music chosen by humans and not algorithms, I can be OK with websites telling me what to listen to.

Mostly I'm cynical about those things, though, because it seems like they just want to give you more of what you already like, rather than the things you don't even know you love yet. It would be nice if, in addition to giving you the standard "if you like this, then you'll like that" formula, those services also presented you with an option that was right out of left field based on your stated tastes, which you could then experiment with or reject as you saw fit.

Yeah Songza has over 100,000 different playlists all curated and managed by real people. Which is one reason why I'm discovering so much new music. Let me know what toy think about it.

It depends on what you mean by discovering 'new' music. I got into Leadbelly through Spotify, and 'Piper at the Gates of Dawn' by Pink Floyd recently - both old albums, both new to me.

I think that the world is pretty much the same - it's just that our record stores are now increasingly online and there are more options to have our music selection 'curated' for us.

But let's not forget, that's what record stores have been doing for ages - recommending albums at the front of the store, scribbling recommendations on cards in plastic slipcases.

I'm glad for recommendations from friends, but I also love the fact I can get into a genre just by pricking up my ears when I listen to a specialist radio show, or checking out This Is My Jam!

Yes, Ben raises an important point. "new" music is relative to the listener, but that doesn't make it any less valid or...worthy of excitement, I guess. I have some friends (well, one in particular) who rail against the so-called "nostalgia" trend in music (a la The Sheepdogs, Zeus, etc. - bands who are reviving a 70s aesthetic and sound), saying that this means no one is innovating anymore and that creativity in music is doomed, essentially. That's more than a little melodramatic, in my mind, but my point is that our view of what is nostalgic musically (or new, to try to keep this on-topic) is based on when we began listening, and what we were listening to.

Sorry, I got a bit tangential there. I'm really enjoying Songza, so thanks.

What I'm getting at is the value in re-listening to music you already know. I often listen to an album once, and even if I really, really like it I'll listen to it maybe twice more. Compare this to before I had constant internet music access, I would listen to the same album on repeat for weeks-- I had "London Calling" in my car for a good four months, and really got to know the nuances. I can still do the tracklisting for the Blue Album by Weezer. I don't think there's a single album I've discovered in the last three years I could do that for. Even half the tracks.

@Andrew Do you not think that's an age thing though? The Blue Album by Weezer was out when I was about 13, and I got into The Smiths when I was 15. Both of those bands mean a lot to me, and I don't have the same emotional attachment to, The Horrors, but I still love their music, and I love finding new music.

ya, I'm definitely on the hunt for new music constantly, rather than thinking about the "long tail" of the music I already have. I regret that a little when I think about it, but then I get curious again.

@Ben I'm not sure. A lot of people I know, as they got older, would just stop listening to music as much. I'm listening to music as much or more than I ever did, but it's almost always something new.

Think I'm going to shut this conversation down soon. It's been a week-- I'll leave it open for at least 24 more hours for any final points, and then I'm sure we'll have a chance to talk about this stuff again.

Ah, I totally forgot about this. Anyways, I'll give some input.

Over the years, I have basically collected hundreds of gigs of music, through buying the cd's locally, via itunes and pirating. Lately however it's become this addictive need to find what's "up and coming." I don't think it's a matter of me being tired of the older music that I already have; I could go back and listen to most of the albums I have stored and be quite content (depending on the song quality.. I admit I have some terrible albums).

I don't think the fact that I'm not enthralled with making a Top 10 Albums list for each year, which dictates what I have stored on my iPod. This most likely will be the case for next year as well, as music is released, with the exception of the albums I really enjoyed from the year prior, perhaps 2011 as well.

Perhaps, more of an effort to listen to the older music I have should be sought after, as it was the music that has helped shape my current musical tastes and opinions.

It's actually quite a strange situation for me to think about, seeing as how with getting to and from my occupation as well as my job itself, I clock over 10 hours of constant music listening a day. But again, most of this is all current music of the year

Alright, wrapping it up. Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts and thanks to Brandon for introducing me to Songza, which, interestingly, has been giving me a mix of old and new music in its playlists. Maybe something of a sweet spot there.