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\nLet me explain - I have a large music DB. I did before I had iTunes, and it covered an entire wall in my house with CD cases. Having iTunes just makes it easier to find things. <\/p>\n\t
Actually, iTunes goes one better than this. iTunes makes it easy to find the things you’ve forgotten too. I’ve set up loads of playlists which I use to listen to the music (or audio book) that happen to be in the mood for. I’m sure that’s no different to anybody else. Often I’ll listen to a playlist in its entirety. Some are short - perhaps 5 or 6 songs, others are all the tracks for a given artist, genre, or period of my life. For example, I have one for They Might Be Giants. Another for Hardcore Rap and another for the artists I used to listen to as a kid (Don McClean, Gerry Rafferty, Gilbert O’Sullivan). <\/p>\n\t
The playlists help me find the stuff I listen to, but I get much more use out of what I label ‘Recently’ playlists. These are the same playlists, but with the added criterion of only including songs that I’ve haven’t listened to in the last 6 months. It’s the perfect way to remind me about the songs or stars that I love to listen to but have simply forgotten because I haven’t listened to them recently. Hence the nomenclature. <\/p>\n\t
As I write this I’m listening to my Pop Faves Recently list and it’s playing Madness, Queen, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers, David Bowie, amongst many others. <\/p>\n\t
The question is how long it might have taken me to remember that I had this music if I didn’t have iTunes to help me? Some of these artists I have listened to, according to iTunes, since June 2003!<\/p>\n\t
The system only works if you actually play what’s in your library. One day I’ll set myself the mammoth task of listening to all the stuff I’ve bought but so far not listened to. It currently runs to 42 days. If I include all my spoken word titles I add another 100.<\/p>\n\t
I better start practicing ‘Hello, my name is Martin MC Brown and I’m addicted to my ‘Unplayed’ playlists’…<\/p>\n\t