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How much of your music library has never been played?


Bayesian

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I happened to notice today that over half of my iTunes library of some 30,000 tracks has never been played. That got me wondering if anyone else here has substantial amounts of their music libraries that have yet to be listened to.

 

Over the years, I ripped CDs (mostly classical and jazz, but also some pop, R&B, etc.) with the goal of one day getting around to playing them. It's clear I haven't done too well at that so far, and I actually wonder if I'll ever get around to properly listening to all of my collection. Maybe it's time I winnow my library down, especially the "popular" stuff (i.e., not classical or film score) that can be found super easily on Spotify, YT, Apple Music, etc., and focus what listening time I have to better appreciating what I already collected and not strive to keep adding more.

 

Thoughts?

 

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I have literally well over a hundred to two hundred film music cd's that I've ripped to iTunes but never listened to. In fact, I just finished ripping around thirty Elmer Bernstein cd's this evening, 90% of which were still shrink-wrapped.

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I have about the same amount of tracks as you (about 30.000), but there's nothing I haven't played. There are some I've played just a few times, but in order for new items to "qualify" for import to my iTunes collection, I need to have heard it at least once, and obviously liked it enough to wish for more listening.

 

If not, it gets deleted after first having sampled it in VLC. This goes for a LOT of digital promos.

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I have a tad under 7500 tracks. In comparison to yours, that's an indication of how seriously I take quality control. An album or track really has to demonstrate repeat value for me to include it. In some cases it can mean keeping 10 minutes of music from a box set.

 

I don't have any completely unlistened CDs. I'd never buy anything that I wasn't going to salivate over the minute I received it.

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Everything in my library has been played at this point, except for three CDs I got at Christmas (Weezer's latest, an older Pete Yorn CD, and the Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix vol 2).

 

Just had a laptop hard drive failure this week, so it's possible that EVERYTHING will be "un-listened to" and unrated when I get a replacement, depending on whether my iTunes library file ports over.  My external hard drive with all the music on it is thankfully fine.

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I have 27,500 tracks in total, out of which 25,687 have never been played...I am literally the worst when it comes to hoarding music. I should probably call Kim Woodburn and Aggie Mackenzie for help.

 

For the record my most played Williams track is "Escape - Chase - Saying Goodbye", which has received 45 listens.

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I'm sure that film score tracks are nowhere near my top plays - songs I use for running music would top that list.  I'd bet that FOTR: CR tracks would be the closest to the top, score-wise.

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I'm starting to think I'm more obsessed with having the music in my collection than I am with actually listening to it.

 

I suppose that makes me a classic hoarder.

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I was that way with DVD/Blu-ray for a while.  Loved sales/deals, loved raiding bargain bins, etc.  Now, when I watch something new from my shelf, more often than not it goes to my sell/giveaway pile.

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2 hours ago, JTWfan77 said:

I have literally well over a hundred to two hundred film music cd's that I've ripped to iTunes but never listened to. In fact, I just finished ripping around thirty Elmer Bernstein cd's this evening, 90% of which were still shrink-wrapped.

Yes! That’s me right there. Except maybe for the fact I often go for the gently used, lower priced copies. I can’t tell you how many hours have been spent assiduously ripping and re-metadata-ing each album... just so I can... what, exactly?

2 hours ago, Thor said:

I have about the same amount of tracks as you (about 30.000), but there's nothing I haven't played. There are some I've played just a few times, but in order for new items to "qualify" for import to my iTunes collection, I need to have heard it at least once, and obviously liked it enough to wish for more listening.

 

If not, it gets deleted after first having sampled it in VLC. This goes for a LOT of digital promos.

I need to take a page from your playbook, Thor. I admit I’m impressed you’ve given 30K tracks your undivided attention — wish I could say the same by now!

2 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

I have a tad under 7500 tracks. In comparison to yours, that's an indication of how seriously I take quality control. An album or track really has to demonstrate repeat value for me to include it. In some cases it can mean keeping 10 minutes of music from a box set.

 

I don't have any completely unlistened CDs. I'd never buy anything that I wasn't going to salivate over the minute I received it.

Quality over quantity. Good approach

2 hours ago, mstrox said:

Everything in my library has been played at this point, except for three CDs I got at Christmas (Weezer's latest, an older Pete Yorn CD, and the Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix vol 2).

 

Just had a laptop hard drive failure this week, so it's possible that EVERYTHING will be "un-listened to" and unrated when I get a replacement, depending on whether my iTunes library file ports over.  My external hard drive with all the music on it is thankfully fine.

In 2006, that happened to a hard drive of mine with tons of photos I’ll never get back. A hard way to learn a lesson about backing up, although a successful one!

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iTunes tells me I have 16,357 tracks on 1,101 albums. All of that is replicated in the cloud on Google music.

 

I'd say I don't listen to 95% of that, if not more. Im not a hoarder, (I don't get attached to stuff that way) and I'd happily delete a lot of it, but storage really isn't an issue for me and sorting through what I want and don't is more trouble than its worth.

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1 hour ago, JTWfan77 said:

I'm starting to think I'm more obsessed with having the music in my collection than I am with actually listening to it.

 

I suppose that makes me a classic hoarder.

Yep. That’s me there too. Except I’m starting to consider what’s the point of such a large collection if I can’t reasonably expect to listen to it all. 

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30 minutes ago, Scintillating_CA said:

I need to take a page from your playbook, Thor. I admit I’m impressed you’ve given 30K tracks your undivided attention — wish I could say the same by now!

 

There's no secret to it. I'm just old, and have listened to music for a long time. ;)

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8 hours ago, Scintillating_CA said:

Yep. That’s me there too. Except I’m starting to consider what’s the point of such a large collection if I can’t reasonably expect to listen to it all. 

 

For me it's "the moment I get rid of this I'll be wanting it". Also, I buy stuff because it's going to sell out and then I'll never be able to find it again.

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10 hours ago, JTWfan77 said:

I'm starting to think I'm more obsessed with having the music in my collection than I am with actually listening to it.

 

I suppose that makes me a classic hoarder.

 

That's an interesting comment. When does a "buyer" become a "collector"?

 

 

10 hours ago, mstrox said:

I was that way with DVD/Blu-ray for a while.  Loved sales/deals, loved raiding bargain bins, etc.  Now, when I watch something new from my shelf, more often than not it goes to my sell/giveaway pile.

 

Mike, doesn't that say more about the quality of the product, than your buying habits?

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I just deleted 2GB's worth of classical, choral music that I hoarded a few years ago, thinking I might play it one day, but I didn't and I needed more space, so... Also havel ooads pof pop music I really have to listen to at one point.

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4 hours ago, Richard said:

Mike, doesn't that say more about the quality of the product, than your buying habits?

 

Back in the day it was more about my buying habits (I’d wander off to Blockbuster or Big Lots and drop over $100 at a time on DVDs just to have them).  At the time I my justification was “it’s cheaper than renting” (quietly ignoring the fact that I wasn’t actively watching them anyway).  It was all about accruing/collecting/hoarding.

 

My philosophy has since changed somehow, so I’m more than happy to get rid of stuff as I watch it.  It’s not cheaper than renting now, which is a plus.  Still refuse to disappear anything without watching it first, so there are still hundreds and hundreds of DVDs I have no good reason to own on my shelves.

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Of course one has to check out the acquired DVDs and CDs before deciding whether to keep them or not. :)

 

I too like to get rid of things that I don't want to watch or listen to again. I've even sold some of my JW CDs on eBay. :o

 

Also, I experience that a physical CD collection is easier to have an overview of, and therefore gets more playing time on my stereo. That, in addition to informative liner notes, is why I prefer to buy the CD version of albums I know I like. Spotify is great for checking out new music and for listening at work and on the go.

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I sold over 900 DVDs / BDs / LDs this past year, partly due to financial needs and partly to get rid of stuff that I realised I actually didn't want. A large chunk of those movies I'd never even seen (and most likely never will now).

 

Also, moving house makes one question the sense of keeping stuff you never use, just for the sake of owning it.

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Few years ago, I started a listening log, to ensure I listen to -- all -- my collection regularly... but I stopped.

 

The truth is I want to listen what I want, when I want.  I know my CDs are here... so if I want to play them, I will.

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I've spent the last two years systematically ripping all my STs to iTunes so that everything is easily accessible. My whole collection is now in a storage unit so whipping a CD out for a quick listen is no longer an option.

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13 hours ago, Scintillating_CA said:

Yep. That’s me there too. Except I’m starting to consider what’s the point of such a large collection if I can’t reasonably expect to listen to it all. 

 

I got to the point where I'd open an album folder and couldn't tell you what it would sound like because I'd never listened to it. Unless you make a concerted effort to listen to a different score every day, there just isn't enough time to listen to everything once a collection reaches a certain point.

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I happened to consult my Amazon order history to see... okay, I bought this...yes... I should really listen to it someday.

 

It's either a problem of memory or compulsive buying. :D

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53 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

I've spent the last two years systematically ripping all my STs to iTunes so that everything is easily accessible. My whole collection is now in a storage unit so whipping a CD out for a quick listen is no longer an option.

 

I did the same thing a few years back. Spent a few months transferring all my 1000 CDs to iTunes. Now I hardly play a CD anymore, even though they're all in the shelf right in front of me.

 

But I do hope to get back to them eventually. In fact, I've recently acquired a turntable and a handful of LPs, so I might retrigger my listening of physical formats more extensively. Just need to dig up my old DVD/CD player from the basement; the current BluRay player I have is terrible for CD listening.

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1 hour ago, Bespin said:

I happened to consult my Amazon order history to see... okay, I bought this...yes... I should really listen to it someday.

 

Oh, don't worry. I can't tell you how many times I've bought a DVD thinking I don't have it, only to discover I do!

 

Nowadays I keep an Excel spreadsheet on my phone with my collection listed, so that I can refer to it when I see something I may want to buy.

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It remember me how many times I bought the old Star Wars movie... VHS in english, VHS in french, Widescreen versions, deluxe boxset, Special Editions VHS, in french, in english, The DVD, the blu-rays... :sarcasm:

 

I saw all the versions of Jabba and Yoda :sarcasm:

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Seriously, we watch TV series on Netflix that are in 720p and listen to FYC albums that are in 192 kbps.

 

What's the deal with HD? ;)

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39 minutes ago, Bespin said:

It remember me how many times I bought the old Star Wars movie... VHS in english, VHS in french, Widescreen versions, deluxe boxset, Special Editions VHS, in french, in english, The DVD, the blu-rays... :sarcasm:

 

No love for Laserdisc?

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2 minutes ago, JTWfan77 said:

 

No love for Laserdisc?

 

No, I never believed in it. Like I don't believe in 3D TV.

 

I never believed in quadraphony too, nor SACD for music.

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I have around 50,000 tracks although some of those are pop/rock/r&b etc, but they are on a separate iTunes/ iPod from my film scores 

 

I usually put my iPod on shuffle so I really don’t keep track of what I hear/ don’t hear. I also normally only use my iPod in the car or while I’m working out. But I would say my iPod / cds with all the rock/pop or what have you are the ones that get the least listen.

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I have thousands that haven't been played but I get really frustrated with my iTunes because the playcounts are sooo inaccurate. I've listened to a lot of things on Spotify, on other streaming platforms, plus I have had a couple of unfortunate reboots of my music collection through computer death so all my old playcounts were lost. I don't know. My iTunes is honestly a mess these days and I used to keep it so neat. :( 

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I have about 41000 tracks, and I listened to all of them at least once. I wear my ipod while walking around and listen to a lot of stuff

 

since I may never listen to some of the full albums again, I take note of the best tracks and put them in separate playlists which I listen to regularely

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I thought I was bad, but you guys are crazy! A completely made up statistic but I’d wager I’ve listened to about 75% of my music collection. The only reason being I get a lot of promo scores that I just toss into my iTunes and don’t listen to. 

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