Best article on music I've read this year

I don't think we should blame the ready availability of music for the alleged problem of a loss of intense listening that stands a chance of having real meaning rather than the sort of listening that is part of multi-tasking that may be characterised as musical wall-paper listening ...

We must look to ourselves, and our self-discipline. If one wants to listen in a concentrated fashion, then it is up to the individual to do it. The machinery for listening and the easy supply of an unprecedently wide range of music, available at a few clicks on the controls, is not the the cause of this alleged problem ...

I suspect some people would be surprised how little time I sometimes give to serious listening. Often I listen to just one piece of music in a working day. Non-working days are usually different, but I would rather have good old Radio Four chatting away in the back ground - half attended to - than try the same trick with any music, whether I am fond of it or not! I simply find music deeply distracting if I am not able to attend to it completely. This is a personal point of view and no judgement on anyone whose listening style is different.

I don't think we should denigrate the "iPod generation" for using the means available. Individuals who walk down the pavement so deeply involved in the music that they will sometimes walk right up to one [walking the other way] before they realise that you are there. If these people are not "seriously listening" to the music, then I have no idea what they are doing. 

For myself, I am delighted that it is possible to search the internet for music, and specific performances, that I have long since wanted to listen to, and some of my most rewarding listening is not so rarely from a youtube seaching session!

I personally would not want to revert to a time when records were expensive, and often no longer available to buy, there was no internet, and radio was restricted to a handful of national networks and a few private ones like Radio Luxemburg. All that sitaution brought was that many people were denied the chance to discover so much wonderful music, and it also certainly did not stop the possibility of inattentive listening. That is there whatever the listening equipment or situation ...

I would also argue that if a person enjoys listening to music in a less than wholely engaged way, why should any of us presume to judge the issue! If it brings pleasure, then whose business is it but that of the individual concerned ...

In other words, I rather disagree with the article, though it is a discussion point.

ATB from George