Too Much Music

A

AVphile

Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2018
Messages
87
Location
Las Vegas
This posting is both a serious question and a whine.

I have been purchasing music for more than 50 years — first LPs and cassettes, then CDs, and now (rarely) more CDs and Blu-ray concerts. Overall, my music is probably a just little larger than the average music lover on Audioshark; I have perhaps 1,250 to 1,500 recordings in total. I am also a lifetime Roon subscriber. My primary audio system is quite good for playing back any type of media.

Like everyone else, I have my favorites in most genres that alway give me pleasure when I listen to them, and therein lies my dilemma. When I have a couple of hours to enjoy music, there are so many choices! More often than not I grab something I know because I am assured of a good session. As a consequence, there are hundreds of recordings I expect that I haven’t heard in years.

I can’t be alone with this issue. What do the rest of you do?
 
AVphile said:
Like everyone else, I have my favorites in most genres that alway give me pleasure when I listen to them, and therein lies my dilemma. When I have a couple of hours to enjoy music, there are so many choices! More often than not I grab something I know because I am assured of a good session. As a consequence, there are hundreds of recordings I expect that I haven’t heard in years.

I can’t be alone with this issue. What do the rest of you do?
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What surprises me with you post is that you say you use Roon.

As a one-month trial subscriber only, the one thing I found where Roon was better than BluOS that I'd been using, is its "Radio" feature.

With that, you play a few of your regular favourite tracks and after these have played Roon adds more music that its clever AI thinks you may also enjoy. Do you not take advantage of this feature? It will introduce to tons of new music that won't all be to your liking, but much will be and you can add any new albums or artists to your favourites list for future exploration.

Alternatively listen to Radio Paradise! Only 4 channels but if there's one that offers music you enjoy, there's tons of choice and any track you don't like can be skipped over. What's more, the sound quality, particularly the MQA versions if your system is MQA-enabled, is very high indeed. Happy listening
 
if you're in a musical rut, try streaming new (to you) music. If you are so pressed for time, you can speed through or skip over whatever doesn't titillate your senses. I dont get the comment "too much music" like too many movies to watch, too many restuarants to to try, books to read, concerts to attend or wine to drink? if only life were longer so I could try it all!
 
I know the feeling (playing the same 20 albums over and over), and the suggestion to try streaming new music is a very good one.

I subscribe to Qobuz and sometime I scroll the 'New Releases' section and randomly just listen. If I don't like it I just move quickly to the next.

Also I've been part of a small, every-Saturday Roon hi-fi group for a while now. We talk about what we're listening to and I find out about new-to-me music that way too.
 
I go through burn out. Part of my enjoyment of music is hearing something original. While my guitar gently weeps has like 547 covers, but the same ol' just turns into work. I know 75% of my upgraditis is to bring new life to old tunes because it takes time to find new interesting songs. Hear Here offered a great reminder and it's a really cool feature of roon. I play a song and roon starts looking for like music then asks me for a thumbs up or down. Like walking into a grocery store without a list. Even though I live in what I think is a quiet neighborhood ambient noise is 20 db higher in the day than it is in the evening meaning daytime listening sucks for easy listening shrinking my list further.
 
puroagave said:
if you're in a musical rut, try streaming new (to you) music. If you are so pressed for time, you can speed through or skip over whatever doesn't titillate your senses. I dont get the comment "too much music" like too many movies to watch, too many restuarants to to try, books to read, concerts to attend or wine to drink? if only life were longer so I could try it all!
Click to expand...

The trouble is, it's often difficult to identify new artists that you may like. AllMusic often offers "Similar Artists" as does Qobuz via BluOS, but the OP has the advantage of Roon, where their Radio feature takes out the finger-work needed to explore new artists by adding extra tracks it thinks you may like to the playlist of favourite tracks you've already loaded.

It sounds like the OP hasn't found or taken advantage of Roon's Radio feature.
 
Agree with Roon radio. It is a good way to listen to new music similar to the one you already like.
Another option (much better than Roon radio IMO) is Spotify. I subscribe to Qobuz and I am a lifetime subscriber to Roon. Yet I find myself listening to Spotify more and more because of their music selection.
 
I look forward to new music Friday's on Roon via Qobuz and Tidal. Qobuz usually adds a lot more classical and Jazz than Tidal. But, I usually can find some new saved music. I also will watch or read new audio equipment reviews that highlight recordings I have never heard or thought of. For some reason I never listen to Roon radio. Maybe that is something I should wade through.
 
nicoff said:
Agree with Roon radio. It is a good way to listen to new music similar to the one you already like.
Another option (much better than Roon radio IMO) is Spotify. I subscribe to Qobuz and I am a lifetime subscriber to Roon. Yet I find myself listening to Spotify more and more because of their music selection.
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Thanks for the Spotify suggestion. By chance I had already suspected that Spotify had some clever AI for adding to one's playlist, so I recently tried to add Spotify to my list of Music Sources available to my streamer app, BluOS. However, even after signing up to Spotify, I cannot seem to get it added to BluOS in the way I can easily add Qobuz, Tidal, Deezer, etc. Any suggestions?
 
Sometimes you can sort of follow the branching streams of suggestions by starting with <Artist Name> Radio on a service that offers that, and when you hear something by another artist you really like, switch to <New Artist Name> Radio. Just another way to explore.

Another thing to do is use the music finder apps on your phones, when you’re out and about and hear something you like.

Or in a coffee shop, ask what station they’re playing (these places are almost always playing some eclectic station on Spotify).

I’ve found some cool things right here on “What are you playing tonight” thread, if you learn which of us has similar tastes.

I’ve found things I am in love with in many of the ways you guys already talked about. When a playlist ends, the streaming service takes over and sometimes I’m like, “oh wow, I like that, didn’t know it was on this album”, and it wasn’t, it was added. So down a new path I go. Gear reviews, streaming playlists from gear manufacturers, and so on.

Takes a bit of work and I feel the streaming AI has a long way to go - hit or miss for me is still around 90/10 against, probably - but it can be very rewarding.
 
I too browse under "genres" on new release Friday. When I find something I like enough I add it to my library.

What I listen to depends on my mood. Often I will go into my "Playlists" Play some tracks to see what strikes me. Once I find out my mood so to speak I will think of an album to listen to.

Other times I just don't have a direction. I then will go to my ripped albums which are alphabetized and just begin to browse. Sometimes I pick some favorite tracks or I find one of those albums you speak of I haven't heard in ages. I remember where I left off for the next time. Starting at "A" all the time creates another problem or don't resolve the issue, LOL.

It sounds like your time may be limited but I think taking the time to browse those unlistened to albums is the key. Remind yourself what is there and why you have them. Like you I've collected awhile and we've bought albums for one or two good tracks, we bought them for a reason though so enjoy them again.

Finding something I haven't heard in awhile is enjoyable. You may get in a bit less music but you could enjoy better quality time since it's something you haven't heard in awhile, fresh.
 
jmusica said:
Sometimes you can sort of follow the branching streams of suggestions by starting with <Artist Name> Radio on a service that offers that, and when you hear something by another artist you really like, switch to <New Artist Name> Radio. Just another way to explore.

Another thing to do is use the music finder apps on your phones, when you’re out and about and hear something you like.

Or in a coffee shop, ask what station they’re playing (these places are almost always playing some eclectic station on Spotify).

I’ve found some cool things right here on “What are you playing tonight” thread, if you learn which of us has similar tastes.

I’ve found things I am in love with in many of the ways you guys already talked about. When a playlist ends, the streaming service takes over and sometimes I’m like, “oh wow, I like that, didn’t know it was on this album”, and it wasn’t, it was added. So down a new path I go. Gear reviews, streaming playlists from gear manufacturers, and so on.

Takes a bit of work and I feel the streaming AI has a long way to go - hit or miss for me is still around 90/10 against, probably - but it can be very rewarding.
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I asked a large business one day about their up beat music, and why its played, Their cooperate answer was as it related to their music at different times "a retailer may decide to play fast tempo, louder music when it's close to closing time, to encourage customers to speed through the store; conversely, slow music could be played during off-peak times, to inspire shoppers to wander around and browse the merchandise for longer. " . They have their madness down to some type of behavioral science.
 
With 2800 albums I’d be lost without Roon. They are almost entirely jazz, and with so many artists playing on each other’s recordings I need Roon’s capability to cross-reference. I will play something I enjoy, then perhaps do a deep dive into the recordings of one of the band members which can lead to some wild outcomes… starting with a playlist, or resorting my library by date or genre also turns up new paths. I have a lot of stuff from bandcamp which notifies me of new things and Tidal with Roon radio is useful too. I like to own the music so don’t do too much pure streaming.

But to your point, it’s incredibly impressive just how much new music comes out all the time and I find it impossible to keep up, as evidenced by the frequency with which I think “how could I have missed that!”
 
Hear Here said:
However, even after signing up to Spotify, I cannot seem to get it added to BluOS in the way I can easily add Qobuz, Tidal, Deezer, etc. Any suggestions?
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Per Bluesound, Spotify cannot be integrated with Bluos app. Spotify Connect (choosing your NAD as player in the Spotify app) is the way.
 
billo said:
Per Bluesound, Spotify cannot be integrated with Bluos app. Spotify Connect (choosing your NAD as player in the Spotify app) is the way.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I did have the Spotify app on my PC but I hadn't found a way to squirt at the streamer! I ditched the app because it just wouldn't leave me alone. It was always making a nuisance of itself each time I booted up or interrupting what I was doing. Maybe I should give it a second chance - if it behaves itself!
 
PS - The OP has gone very quiet - we've not heard from him since his first post. Let's hope he's fully engrossed in exploring new music in the many ways we've been suggesting.
 
I do the exact same thing. When I have a little bit of time to listen, I want to know I am going to enjoy it, so I revert back to known cuts. Nothing wrong with this approach as trying new music usually costs time you don't want to give up.
 
Hear Here said:
Thanks. I did have the Spotify app on my PC but I hadn't found a way to squirt at the streamer! I ditched the app because it just wouldn't leave me alone. It was always making a nuisance of itself each time I booted up or interrupting what I was doing. Maybe I should give it a second chance - if it behaves itself!
Click to expand...
FAQs - The Spotify Community
See "What is Connect and how can I use it?"

I use an I-pad and it's flawless.
 
Hear Here said:
Thanks. I did have the Spotify app on my PC but I hadn't found a way to squirt at the streamer! I ditched the app because it just wouldn't leave me alone. It was always making a nuisance of itself each time I booted up or interrupting what I was doing. Maybe I should give it a second chance - if it behaves itself!
Click to expand...

Just a moment...

The link above may help.

A paid subscription to Spotify may be needed. I use a phone or a tablet to run the Spotify App. From the App I can select any speaker or device that supports Spotify as long as they are connected to the same network.
 
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