{"id":10393,"date":"2014-06-19T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T10:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/?p=10393"},"modified":"2014-06-18T14:16:52","modified_gmt":"2014-06-18T18:16:52","slug":"the-ipod-shuffle-a-music-hoarders-conondrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/2014\/06\/19\/the-ipod-shuffle-a-music-hoarders-conondrum\/","title":{"rendered":"The iPod shuffle: A music hoarder’s conondrum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"iPod<\/a>

iPod Nano, first generation (left), and Spotify app on a smart phone. Where’s my<\/em> music?<\/p><\/div>\n

I remember my first iPod.<\/p>\n

It was a Nano\u2014first generation, with four gigabytes. It was glossy white with the words \u201cLove, Mom\u201d engraved on the reflective backside. She had given it to me for Christmas.<\/p>\n

At the time, I was 12. Granted, I wasn\u2019t quite the music guru that I am now. In theory, I was too young to have an iPod, but everyone wanted one, and I wanted to ensure that I\u2019d get mine first.<\/p>\n

Along with the iPod, I received my first $15 dollar iTunes gift card. I remember downloading Beyonce\u2019s \u201cIrreplaceable\u201d and Fall Out Boy\u2019s \u201cSugar We\u2019re Going Down,\u201d along with the other popular songs at the time.<\/p>\n

But about six months later, Fall Out Boy was out, Panic! At the Disco was in, and I deleted all things Beyonce from my iTunes library.<\/p>\n

Then I deleted Panic! At the Disco and Fall Out Boy because neither band was \u201cscene\u201d enough for my liking. I replaced these artists with Senses Fail and Scary Kids Scaring Kids\u2026 (we all have our musically \u201cdark\u201d moments).<\/p>\n

I thought I had finally distinguished myself as a listener, finally had found my niche, finally had enough \u201cstreet credit\u201d to know that this was my taste–this was me<\/em>. And then just as I began feeling settled in my musical inclinations, when I finally knew who I was as a listener, I deleted everything in my iTunes library and started anew with Bon Iver and Arcade Fire.<\/p>\n

Keeping up with the latest tunes became more like a project than a leisurely pursuit. You buy music that you\u2019ll listen to for a few months before moving onto something that\u2019s more fresh. Eventually, I acquired about 3,000 songs in my iTunes library. If I wanted to get to know an artist a little better, I’d download their whole discography, just so I’d have it.<\/p>\n

When faced with the daunting task of cleaning my iTunes library, I became something of a hoarder\u2014I’d always convince myself that \u201cWell, yeah, I haven\u2019t listened to Death Cab for Cutie in years, but I liked that one song a lot; what if I ever want to listen to them again?” NPR Music\u2019s Stephen Thompson actually wrote a good article for his music blog \u201cThe Good Listener<\/a>\u201d that examines this concept.<\/p>\n

For the past two years I\u2019ve used Spotify, an internet radio application that has (almost) everything. They even have an app that allows for portable listening (there are a few kinks in the app, but it only recently became accessible to free users) And now I can\u2019t remember the last time I actually wanted to update my iTunes library.<\/p>\n

“Owning” music has always seemed to be important, and for many people, it’s a big deal. But honestly, I reached\u00a0 the point where I found myself asking, \u201cWhat\u2019s the point?\u201d\u00a0 Why do we need to own 3,000 songs when maybe we could just share tunes with one another? After all, isn\u2019t that what music is all about?<\/p>\n

Is there anyone else out there who is feeling the effects of this conundrum\u2014is anyone else feeling bogged down by the pressure to update your iTunes library? Do you even still use your iTunes account (or even your iPod?) I want to know what you\u2019re thinking, and if you have any suggestions for a music hoarder (like me).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I remember my first iPod.
\nIt was a Nano\u2014first generation, with four gigabytes. It was glossy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[4863,386,64,14915,14917],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10393"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10393"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10437,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10393\/revisions\/10437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org\/allin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}