update: 10/13/23
my designated period has wrapped up. i decided to write this after a few more days because i wanted to see how my music consumption changed after i lifted my restrictions. i'm very glad that i did this little experiment. at this point, i've had enough time to kind of analyze my music consumption before and after the period. before, whenever i consciously thought about music and realized i didn't have any playing, i put it on. now, whenever i realize i haven't ben consciously aware of the music that is playing, i turn it off. what has happened is that i've become much more intentional about the music. if i am not actively enjoying it, if it is just a background buzz, it goes off. the effect this has had is really nice. a lot of the songs i liked a while ago that i basically just got bored of from overlistening are fun to listen to once again.
it has also changed how my playlists work- instead of having any giant repositories of music with hundreds of songs, my playlists have shrunk significantly because i now start music when there's something i specifically want to listen to. just an observation.
when COVID started, my music consumption skyrocketed after i started subscribing to spotify. this music consumption multiplied orders of magnitude after i got bluetooth earbuds a few weeks later. music pretty much became a constant in my life, there whether i was eating, cooking, working, walking, anything. after just over 3 years of constant listening to music, i have realized music has little to no effect on me anymore. over the years, music has become nothing more than background noise for my life. this has led me to the conclusion that music streaming has removed the deliberacy from my music consumption. i don't find myself enjoying the music i'm listening to, it's just there. as cliche as it sounds, i have somehow become desensitized to music.
to address this, i decided to kind of go on a music "detox". i hate the word detox, but i can't think of another colloquial term that describes what i plan to do, which is basically go 2 weeks with no earbuds and no music. my hope is that after the period, when i reintroduce music to my life, it will be in ways i consciously enjoy rather than being another stimulant required to keep my brain on one task. i'll update this post when i've finished the period.
my designated period has wrapped up. i decided to write this after a few more days because i wanted to see how my music consumption changed after i lifted my restrictions. i'm very glad that i did this little experiment. at this point, i've had enough time to kind of analyze my music consumption before and after the period. before, whenever i consciously thought about music and realized i didn't have any playing, i put it on. now, whenever i realize i haven't ben consciously aware of the music that is playing, i turn it off. what has happened is that i've become much more intentional about the music. if i am not actively enjoying it, if it is just a background buzz, it goes off. the effect this has had is really nice. a lot of the songs i liked a while ago that i basically just got bored of from overlistening are fun to listen to once again.
it has also changed how my playlists work- instead of having any giant repositories of music with hundreds of songs, my playlists have shrunk significantly because i now start music when there's something i specifically want to listen to. just an observation.
when COVID started, my music consumption skyrocketed after i started subscribing to spotify. this music consumption multiplied orders of magnitude after i got bluetooth earbuds a few weeks later. music pretty much became a constant in my life, there whether i was eating, cooking, working, walking, anything. after just over 3 years of constant listening to music, i have realized music has little to no effect on me anymore. over the years, music has become nothing more than background noise for my life. this has led me to the conclusion that music streaming has removed the deliberacy from my music consumption. i don't find myself enjoying the music i'm listening to, it's just there. as cliche as it sounds, i have somehow become desensitized to music.
to address this, i decided to kind of go on a music "detox". i hate the word detox, but i can't think of another colloquial term that describes what i plan to do, which is basically go 2 weeks with no earbuds and no music. my hope is that after the period, when i reintroduce music to my life, it will be in ways i consciously enjoy rather than being another stimulant required to keep my brain on one task. i'll update this post when i've finished the period.