Carrying around my iPhone, I listen more to an iPod than before and I’ve upgraded the music collection on my iPod.
I suspect that iPods encourage musical nuggets which are short, to the point, and complementary to adrenalin. I’ve heard the ? and the Mysterians song "99 Teardrops" more often in the last week than in the preceding last year.
The iPod means we listen more on the go, and with background noise, so the music should have energy. iPod listening also brings more frequent interruptions, which discriminates against longer pieces. Unlike with a CD player there is no particular reason to listen to a whole album straight through and what’s an album anymore anyway?
The curmudgeonly side of me worries a little. What about slowly enfolding, architectonically subtle musical structures? I love LaMonte Young, Pandit Kumar, and Andrew Violette, but thery’re not on my iPod. I also resent that now my brain is more likely to expect music to be fun, though often I would rather hear music that is good for me.
I’ve read that classical music is more popular on iTunes than in music stores; I wonder if the preference is for arias and energetic movements of snappy symphonies, or if the iTunes purchase doesn’t end up very active on the iPod.
A loyal MR reader asked for mbaqanga recommendations for iPod; start with The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Mahlathini (best without the Mahotella Queens), and Township Jazz n’ Jive; the last is not exactly mbqanga but you will love it anyway.
Isn’t the song 96 tears??
For classical music neophytes the big box sets with the huge price tags at the music stores can be quite intimidating.
My iphone and ipod expose me to more fiction. I mostly use it for driving to work and for walking the dog, either just about the right time for a short story podcast such as Escape Pod. Ironically I’m listening to less music, although the music I listen to has greater variety.
My biggest disappointment is that i’d like to listen to more news, but most news podcasts are a day or two behind, and often in video form unsuitable for driving.
buy some good headphones.
The iPod means we listen more on the go, and with background noise, so the music should have energy.
That is not the use I’ve put my iPod to. It’s battery life is awful, so I never use it when walking around. I use a smaller Cowon mp3 player for that — gets 16 hours or so (the new one, with the touchscreen, apparently gets ~24 hrs). I use my iPod almost entirely at work, where I plug it into one of those little iPod speaker systems, and just set it to play throughout my day. Some of what I listen to is short and active, but mostly, I use it to listen to long-form works, like operas. Or to run through my complete collection of Beethoven sonatas, or whatever.
I agree with Sol. I’m a big opera fan, and my iPod is the perfect way to keep my entire collection of opera in one place at a time. I’ll routinely listen to one opera straight through (without having to change discs) and then move on to the next.
I’m in all three camps here. I listen to energetic music when I exercise, especially at the gym where it’s noisy and otherwise rather dull. I also listen to classical music such as soundtracks when working. Finally, when traveling I tend to listen to more pop/rock albums.
Interestingly, I find I don’t use the shuffle mode very often. I seem to enjoy the songs more when they are in the right order.
I find your findings to be generally true to myself. I used to walk to and from work everyday with my iPod, and found that I listened to a lot more hip-hop than I ever did before. I’m now riding my bike, and for some reason, I think it’s rhythm I’m in, but I end up listening to more indie rock etc.
However, when I’m at home or at work trying to concentrate, music habits change to reflect a slower pace.
I don’t shuffle the music very much. Given the diversity of music on my ipod, the shuffle reminds me of a DJ with no sense of flow or transition. Also, most of the artists I respect still have a keen sense of how an album as a whole can be crafted into a work of art.
Ditto with what that other guy said a few posts back.
I’m buying a much wider array of artists simply because I don’t have to buy the whole album now.
About 10 years ago I went in to a music store to see if they had a single of some new tune that was out. The band was some “alt rock” group that I would have never been able to stomach for more than a minute or so, but they had that one song. . .
Anyway, the guy behind the counter was as smug as only a stoned teenager can be when addressing an “old” guy, and dopily but happily informed me that the group was too smart to put out singles and thus lose money. “Cuz no one would buy their albums then.”
Aside from admitting that the rest of the album was garbage, he was also missing the very obvious fact that I would have spent 4 or 5 bucks on a single, but not 12 or 14 on the album.
Virtually the same album (or at least the same songs and artists) is listed on Amazon as “African Jazz and Jive” for those of us who avoid $75 albums. Also on iTunes as “South African Jazz and Jive”. Thanks again Tyler.
Hi Allow me to offer my heartiest wishes. I would like to know more about this I’m an chinese writer who love to read international literature.feel free to contact by sdggc and bjseek-æ— ç¼ç®¡|æ— ç¼é’¢ç®¡|æ•°æ®æ¢å¤|RAIDæ•°æ®æ¢å¤
I don’t think they where worried with people that listen to classical music on Ipod when the studied the market. Specialy on I tunes. There is no music videos for classical songs, and the number of people who listen to it is very low.
Comments on this entry are closed.