How should I choose and enjoy music for my workday?

February 20, 2009 12:43 PM

How should I choose and enjoy music for my workday?

I work at home, at a desk for many hours each day. I have a giant collection of CDs and MP3s that I listen to all day. I don't like shuffled music, I prefer what I call "long listening" - one artist (album by album) or genre all day. A typical day would see me loading up an 8 hour playlist of Pete Namlook or Steve Roach.

My problem is that I'm always thinking "is this the most satisfying thing I can listen to right now?" I often feel like I have too much music and that I'd enjoy it more if I only had 50 CD's. I need help feeling content with whatever I choose to listen to, almost to the point of using a system. Although using shuffle might seem like a logical solution, I really want my music to sustain a somewhat singular mood for the entire day. Any ideas?

I realize this might seem like a trivial thing, but it really does nag at me.

posted by davebush to media & arts (6 comments total)

You could create large/long playlists revolving around a mood/genre/artist/theme, and then subsequently play those playlists in shuffle mode. That way you've got control over the general type of music you're listening to, but still get some surprise or "freshness" from not knowing exactly what's coming next.
posted by owtytrof at 1:07 PM on February 20

I like putting my entire mp3 collection on random until I find something that fits my present mood, then I usually listen to that album all the way through. This ensures that the music I forgot I have sees light every so often, and typically turns up something suitable right quick. Plus, when you change your mind about the current selection you can aways put it back on shuffle.
posted by waxboy at 1:11 PM on February 20

Isn't this more or less the problem that the "Genius playlist" feature in iTunes is meant to solve? It won't restrict you to a single artist, but it will keep you in a pretty narrow genre — albeit in shuffle mode — all day long. The transitions from song to song are often quite pleasing. The algorithm obviously considers not only the style of music but the type of beat/rhythm, etc, when choosing songs to butt up against one another. It's quite different from a random shuffle. Not sure if you're an iTunes user, but it's probably worth a look.
posted by Joey Bagels at 1:20 PM on February 20

Seconding Genius as an option This review came out when Genius first debuted, so things could have gotten better (in terms of broken results). There's also Last.fm, if you're online while working (I'll assume you are).
posted by filthy light thief at 1:27 PM on February 20

With your MP3s: sort tracks by title, and jump into some letter. I've re-discovered some tracks on my iPod like that. Or just start going through all your albums, starting with A (either by album title or artist).
posted by filthy light thief at 1:29 PM on February 20

owtytrof - thanks. That's a great idea I'd never thought of.
posted by davebush at 1:37 PM on February 20