The unoptimizable metric
I've been discovering a lot of new music lately. Like a lot.
- There's a new Slayyyter album out,
- then my YT Music recommended Middle Kids.
- When I scrolled down to the recommended albums, I noticed the cover of Surf's Up by The Beach Boys. It's way darker than I would've expected from the Kokomo guys, so I wanted to see what that was about
- But then scrolling through Instagram, I found this post of artists I should check out if I liked Dijon and Mk.Gee. As it so happens, I do like Dijon and Mk.Gee. So now I've gotta keep track of this new batch of artists.
Exploration felt super fun at first. Every artist is a new sound to get in to, with backstories I'd like to read and vibes to enjoy. I listen to an album once then go along to the next one.
Now I've began asking myself the weird question: When can you say that you've really "listened" to an album? There's the regular duration of it, which can be 30-45 mins. or so. It's an episode of Widow's Bay, really. But watching an episode once isn't the same as going through an album once.
Now I look at my To-Listens and it petrifies me. I don't know where to start, and I have the 100% irrational fear of making "the wrong choice." Guess that's opportunity cost for ya.
It's cause there's layers to albums that I wanna go through. Lyrics and instrumentation need to be digested. If you're listening to someone with a knack for writing, like Olivia Rodrigo or Thom Yorke, then going through the lyrics is gonna be it's own activity.
As efficient as I can be with listening to music, it'll never really stick the way that I want it to: a meaningful way. I wanna be absorbed. I want to be influenced by the music, to let me see patterns, to mold my creative decisions. There is no way to make that process more efficient, despite my best efforts of tracking each artist to listen to.
It requires the most stubborn resource we have: time. I can dilly dally all day about which artist to deep dive next, but the candle's gonna keep burning regardless. Just like how I can't eat all the food or watch all the movies, the fact that there will be albums I'll never hear—possibly life changing albums, but who knows?—is unavoidable.
I just need to remind myself that this is the life that I'm living as influenced by the listening choices that I've made. Maybe in the next one I'll finally get around to listening to something else.