People are inherent creatures of habit, and it touches all facets of our lives. Being tasteful, discerning music lovers doesn’t free us from the inclination to create routines. Our habits definitely affect how we interact with our music.
Despite having immense and eclectic music collections, we find ourselves responding to some mysterious form of muscle memory when we browse them. We routinely pull eye-level CDs from the right-hand side of the rack and inevitably select vinyl from the shelves nearest to the turntable.
When we open Roon, habits can lead us through an ingrained series of mouse clicks that take us to a familiar destination. In doing so, we find ourselves gravitating to the same stuff, great stuff, sure – but it means a few well-worn sections of our collection receive more attention than the rest.
Or your Roon habits may take a different yet equally common form that’s bemoaned on our Community forum. Maybe you’re someone who frequently adds new items to your library – such as a song from a movie or series you’ve watched, a hot new track from New Music Friday, or an album recommended by a friend or reviewer – only to forget about them a few days later as you add even more new stuff. Adding new music only takes seconds – finding the time to listen to the fruits of our enthusiasm is much more challenging.
We consume sounds so often that we may not even realize we do this. Your routine may be different still, but the results are the same. No matter how vast and interesting, our libraries gradually lose their allure and thrill. Repetition is a champion excitement killer, and that’s the last thing we want from our music.
Continue reading “Feels like the first time: spark listening excitement with Smart Playlists”