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Playcount = Cheap/Disposable?

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Alucard Lazy? from Vancouver, BC Since: Jan, 2011 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Lazy?
#1: May 23rd 2011 at 1:52:18 PM

I've often wondered about this: what's the right amount to listen to a single track, album or performance? How hard should we be listening to a song to fully appreciate it?

When I'm listening, I primarily try to explore my unlistened tracks, but I do have a few staples I like to come back to, often in cycles. Other songs and albums hit me on a deeper level, an experience I prefer to savor by not attempting to relive. Many of those I come back to when I'm in a mood.

Most importantly, I make sure to never play a track unless I'm giving it my full attention (otherwise it just becomes background noise). This even extends to bands that I think deserve closer evaluation than usual, meaning my playcount with them is quite low.

Does the fact that the staples generally get the highest playcount make them less meaningful to me?

edited 23rd May '11 7:16:13 PM by Alucard

ImipolexG frozen in time from all our yesterdays Since: Jan, 2001
frozen in time
#2: May 23rd 2011 at 7:11:06 PM

Y'know, I've thought about this too. I have some songs that are genuinely great and classic but the playcount is low because I like to be able to give them my full attention. Then I have others that might fall more into the "disposable pop single" kind of territory, and the playcount is high because it's fun to just have them on as bubblegum background music.

So, there may be something to that.

no one will notice that I changed this
MetaFour AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN from A Place (Old Master)
AXTE INCAL AXTUCE MUN
#3: May 23rd 2011 at 8:19:17 PM

As soon as I figured out how to configure the display in iTunes, I turned off the playcount.

storyyeller More like giant cherries from Appleloosa Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
More like giant cherries
#4: Jun 17th 2011 at 5:04:13 PM

I've got some that are in the hundreds. It just depends on how long I've had the music since I usually just leave everything on shuffle all the time and rarely get annoyed enough to remove music from my playlist.

Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's Play
mmysqueeant I'm A Dirty Cowboy from Essairrrrcks Since: Oct, 2010
I'm A Dirty Cowboy
#5: Jun 17th 2011 at 5:05:59 PM

Orgasm Addict was the highest listed song in my iTunes playlist for ages, back when I still had iTunes. Cue tittering whenever someone looked at it.

So not funny you guys.

brc2000 Thermonuclear Warrior from here Since: Jul, 2010
Thermonuclear Warrior
#6: Jun 17th 2011 at 5:15:29 PM

I rarely listen to music in the background, apart from soundtracks while reading. The albums I like the most get the most plays. If I feel like I'm forced to listen to something or have to be in a certain mood, it means I probably don't like it as much, if at all.

edited 17th Jun '11 5:17:14 PM by brc2000

MikeK Since: Jan, 2001
#7: Jun 27th 2011 at 6:21:02 PM

I kind of have this system where if I feel I've got too much music on my computer, I sort by playcount and start judging whether or not I can part with things that have high playcounts - albums with high playcounts that I have on cd are pretty likely to go because I can always just rip them again if I feel like it.

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