Does the digital revolution drive music obsession?

Kyle Wilson74 said:I wonder how much this constant accessibility has ruined the whole experience.

It hasn't affected me one bit.

Personally, I find having more options to be quite refreshing.

And I see absolutely nothing wrong with skipping an entire album after just a single track if that's what the mood calls for.

wiredfalcon2 said:If the album is good, I'm gonna love it regardless of how I get my hands on it. I don't have OCD, so it doesn't matter more to me if it was harder to find...

So people with OCD value things more just because they're hard to get? Where'd you read that, a comic book?

Arthur Barnes said:Is he worth any less today? Not in my book. But honestly, he’d probably bother me even less if I hadn't heard him back then and just discovered him now.

Unless you've had some massive, life-altering shift in how you actually perceive music, I genuinely don't get how you can even argue that... 🤷

Edit: I think you mentioned that track from the "One Kiss Can lead to another" compilation—you know, the one with those obscure 60s female doo-wop groups. So, let me ask you: would that song actually be "better" (as a piece of recorded music) if you didn't have access to the original vinyl, which is basically impossible to find these days?

Arthur Barnes said:so people with OCD actually value things more just because they're harder to get? where'd I read that, some tabloid?

it was right there in print, man 🙂

driftingowl27 said:Unless you’ve had some massive, sudden shift in how you actually hear music... I honestly don't get how you can think like that... 🤷

The more there is of something, the less each individual piece actually matters...

Plain old common sense: all music in the world is worth exactly one...

If there's only one band, then they're worth exactly 1/1... which is just 1.

If there are 1,000 bands out there, then each one is only worth 1/1,000...

It’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you get what I'm saying... If I heard Nirvana today, I'd be like, "Hey, this is actually good," and listen to it. But I'd also have a thousand other things to choose from. Back when I first heard them, I didn't have much choice, so that's why it felt more "valuable." Plus, I was just a kid... back then, a scoop of ice cream was basically the greatest thing in the world...

driftingowl27 said:It seems to me that you are somewhat disregarding format and structure; after all, the fundamental form of motion pictures has remained largely identical for nearly ninety years. You might choose to watch something like *Gone with the Wind* on a smartphone, but I highly doubt that doing so (assuming, of course, that you actually enjoy that specific film 🙂 ) will provide you with any genuine cinematic satisfaction 🙂

That was not actually my intention; rather, I was referring to those anecdotes about how people would go to the movie theater multiple times simply because nothing else was playing, whereas today one can download anything via a torrent and perhaps not even finish watching it once, let alone see it twice.
Or consider how there used to be only one or two television networks to choose from, while today we have access to hundreds.
Ultimately, to reiterate my point, I believe that our hyper-available and hyper-productive culture, in its current iteration, alters the way we consume art—in the sense that we have become more impatient and less willing to grant works a fair chance—but does it truly alter the authenticity of the experience? Truly great works remain just as profoundly moving now as they were in the past.

As for Arthur Barnes, I obviously disagree. 🙂

*Compared to the era of the Walkman, for instance.

First off, let me call out Lovro for randomly quoting the GREATEST AMERICAN SONGWRITER OF ALL TIME, Bob Dylan 🙏

Personally, I listen to Midlake more than I use my computer 😳

The guys covered pretty much everything, but it’s been clear to me for a long time that there's no saving me. I'm obsessive about small things, and it's too much 😬

Honestly, I don't know what the rules are here. I try to find some middle ground between buying new stuff, listening, and digging up old classics, but I'm definitely not being honest in most cases.

Since you all know I'm one of those people who loves nature and hugs trees, I have to admit that I get an instant anxiety attack when someone looks at something they don't immediately like and calls it garbage or says it "belongs in the trash." I just can't stand it. It's even worse when you feel judged by your own hard drive. Just like how my CDs and unread books look at me from the shelves. WHAT A TOTAL PENALTY! Now some random indie or obscure heavy metal band is going to stare at me from that shelf for the rest of my life. Uh 🙂

I've always found it easy to justify the simplest way of discovering music. For example, I'm obsessed with My Morning Jacket ---> Andrew Ptičić whistles their tune ---> Jim James guest stars on a track with some guy... that guy ---> this guy plays a cover of that song.... let's go check it out, and so on.

Oh, and one more thing. Back when I was a kid, the "rules" were basically the obsessive-compulsive disorders of our group. One guy had a limited edition Bruce Dickinson vinyl single and wouldn't let anyone record it onto a cassette 🙏 I would have sold a kidney for that back then 🙂

I am a woman 😠

Arthur Barnes said:Because as soon as there is more of something, its individual value decreases.

Using peasant logic: all the music in the world is worth exactly 1.

If there is only 1 band, then that band is worth 1/1 = 1.

If there are 1,000 bands, then each one is worth 1/1000.

This is a gross exaggeration, but surely you grasp the point? If I had heard Band X back then, I might have said, "Hey, this is good," and listened to it—but I would have also been listening to 1,000 other things because I had choices. When I first heard Band X, I listened to nothing else because I had no other options, which is why it felt more "valuable." And since I was just a kid, back then even an ice cream cone felt like the greatest happiness on earth.

Er, by that logic, could we not say: All the love Spike can give is worth 1.

If there is only 1 thing, it is worth 1/1 = 1.

If there are 1,000 things, each one is worth 1/1000.

Or is it not so?

Brenda Scott14 said:Uh, so we could say: All the love _spike can give equals 1.

If there’s just 1 thing, it’s worth 1/1 = 1.

If there are 1000 things, each one is worth 1/1000.

Right?

No, because they don't cancel each other out. My love for my family doesn't mess with my love for, say, you. 😍 😳

Are you trying to say bands don't interfere with each other either? I'm not so sure about that... 🙂

Awwww, I don't think I've felt this much joy on this board since, what, 2003? 😍

Arthur Barnes, you're being incredibly consistent in defending your worldview, but just like Brenda Scott14 pointed out, even to me, it's looking pretty inhuman... 😢

driftingowl27 said:Awwww, I haven't felt this happy on a forum since, what, 2003... 😍

There are some great discussions happening on the other subforums too 😉

driftingowl27 said:Arthur Barnes, you're staying pretty consistent defending your worldview, but like Brenda Scott14 pointed out, even to me, it feels a bit inhuman... 😢

I was just explaining it that way, logically, because there's no other way to be precise, I don't know 🤷

It's not like I'm sitting here counting how many bands I listen to or figuring out how much less I have to appreciate them because of it. 🙂

Brenda Scott14 said:Basically, let me reiterate, I think this hyper-available, hyper-productive culture we're drowning in today changes *how* we consume things—we've become way more impatient and less willing to give stuff a fair shake—but it doesn't change the actual authenticity of the experience itself. Truly great things are just as real and just as good as they ever were.

And regarding Arthur Barnes, I clearly disagree. 🙂

*compared to back in the Walkman era, for instance.

No matter how much choice we have, I still feel like you have to commit to something fully if you actually want to get the full experience out of it... though it's not like we're forced to go through all that extra effort anymore. 🙂

Arthur Barnes said:There are some pretty decent discussions happening over on the other subforums, too.😉

Oh, there are, but you've got that one total outlier, Smoogj, hanging out there—totally incomparable to anything we have going on here... 😢

@ Arthur Barnes - I suspect the core of the issue is simply that you were a kid back then. What do I know? Personally, I am convinced that the way one relates to music during their teenage years is fundamentally different from how they perceive it later in life. You tend to mythologize it much more intensely, using it as a primary tool to construct your very identity.

@ driftingowl27 - Well, yes, we certainly have to, but doing so will actually make it easier for us to dismiss anything that fails to resonate with us at first glance.

Brenda Scott14 said:@ driftingowl27 - yeah, we have to, but at least then it's easier to just toss out whatever doesn't click with us right away

And sometimes you make a massive mistake—happened to me with that one album, and I felt way stupider than usual for a while after😢

draz is totally right here🙂

Harold Wright54 is absolutely right here.

Man, it was more about the thrill of hunting down something the guys in my neighborhood or class didn't have. Why buy the safe choice when you could grab the first Mercyful Fat 🤮 record just to act cool? (I’m sure everyone made fun of me for it 😳)

Even now, I still catch myself with this weird compulsion to be the first one to find something, only to end up with something totally mediocre. It's a bad habit.

The whole myth-making thing... looking back, it feels pretty heavy. But honestly, I'd rather have mythologized music than anything else. And man, think about how much that shaped who I am. You can't make quick judgments about that. 🙂

I really love this line on the hombrezone -a homepage.

It's heavy. If he actually wrote that, then he hit the nail on the head.

Yeah, I'm obsessive. And I plan to stay that way. Hopefully.

Harold Wright54 said:I have to admit, I get hit with an instant wave of anxiety whenever someone just dismisses something they don't personally vibe with by calling it garbage or saying it's "going straight to hell."

That’s exactly what I meant. I've fallen for that exact same trap more times than I care to admit, just like I said before...😉

I was referring to much more trivial instances of teenage identity formation. You know, being fifteen and having a backpack covered in My Morning Jacket logos, wearing their band tee, sporting a patch of them on your jacket—that is peak 🙂 me, and frankly, that is the most vital thing you need to understand about my character 🙂

Brenda Scott14 said:I was thinking more along the lines of those super trivial teenage personality traits. You know, like when I was 15 and my entire identity revolved around one band—I had the backpack with their name on it, the t-shirt, even the patches on my jacket. I was just totally obsessed. 🙂 And that’s the bottom line. That’s the most important thing you need to know about me. 🙂

😍

Around here, it was always one of two things: either you were actually getting stuff done, or you were just busy carving out a path for those long-winded, taxpayer-funded vacations. 😳

And when he actually picks up the guitar (well, in my case, the bass)... 🙂 You think you’re some kind of genius just because you’ve got a little ego, thinking you're gonna craft the greatest rock concert in history? Give me a break. 😳 )

Well, yes, that is simply non-negotiable 😬