Inspired to delete a lot of BBC radio podcasts that I've not got round to listening to.
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Posted 6 months ago #
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My digitizing-the-music-library has been so slow (low priority) that I don't have much to "un-do." My strategy all along has been to digitize only the tracks that I want to have available in transit (e.g. on iPod) for specific purposes. Generally related to dancing. So when I had a 45-min (one-way) commute, I was using the time to listen to CDs in my car and noting down the tracks I wanted to rip.
Then I got a different job with much shorter commute and wasn't bothering to turn on the music so the project completely stalled.
And not too long ago I realized that I don't need to listen to the whole damn album. Because of my freaky memory, I know just by looking at the track list (MOST of the time) which tracks I want to rip. If not, I can just skip through them in Media Player and confirm. It takes about five minutes, max, to select and rip now.
Then of course there is indexing, because I've seen what happens when dance people don't index (make playlists). They can't find the track they want. So as I go, I code the titles with the appropriate dance type and drag them into separate folders.
I still have to see if this helps with making the playlists on the iPod. Sometimes editing a track title doesn't translate, I know, and of course my PC folder structure doesn't synch.
Recently was trying to choose a Viennese waltz for a show. Realized some of the "classics" are just too old-timey and have to go!
Posted 6 months ago # -
@BreakingFree - No need for an apology! I'm glad that you are commenting because it is giving me lots of new material to read! I'm still working on my music decluttering so it's nice to read all of the ideas :o)
Posted 6 months ago # -
@chacha1, you are the smart one to not load what you do not want in the first place! I am deleting a lot of things I just recently loaded/bought. :/ And re: looking at track names instead of listening, I ran into a similar obstacle on the song titles I did not even recognize (most being songs my sister recommended). I felt like I needed to listen to them to see if it was a song I liked, but finally started just skipping to different parts of the song and if I did not recognize or "love" the song, I deleted it.
@themusiclivez, I am glad you are finding my thoughts helpful/inspiring/interesting. I was going to wait to comment again until I was completely done, but since I know at least one person enjoys these posts: I am down to 263 songs and 13 playlists. I am listening to my remaining Christmas songs as I write this and pruning those.
I also have about 55 songs marked for further review- have been really thinking about when I would listen to music (mostly on the treadmill or driving or on lazy Sunday afternoons) and what music I listen to at those times. So every song I am asking "when would I listen to this song?" I guess it's like when you declutter clothing and ask yourself "what occasion would I wear this to".
As I get fewer and fewer I also see I have several favorite songs with 2 or more different singers, so I have been trying to select my favorite version. I did end up keeping 3 of the 4 versions of "Feeling Good", though, at least for now. :)
Posted 6 months ago # -
@BreakingFree - It sounds like you have made excellent progress! I had about 2000 songs when I first started and am down to about 1300 or 1400 now. There are probably one or two hundred more I could delete but after that I think I have kept all of the songs I enjoy!
Someone I know has about 10,000 songs on their iTunes. I can't even imagine how frustrating it is to scroll through all of that music when you want to find a specific song or artist!
Posted 6 months ago # -
@BreakingFree - I'm with you entirely on the "when would I listen to this song." :-) I don't listen to music just for entertainment. So there's a Holiday Party playlist, a Dinner Party playlist, a Drown Out the Rugrats Upstairs playlist, a Sing-Along playlist etc in addition to all my dance nerd stuff!
Posted 6 months ago # -
I have met my "goal"! I started with 1100 songs (and that down from 1800) and 27 playlists. At one point I stated that I wondered if I could get down to 200 songs. Well, I could and I did.
It was definitely a process- as you can see documented in this thread. Once I got close to 300, here is the process I used to pare it down to 200:
1) I determined which playlists I needed. I previously had playlists like "love songs", "melancholy songs", etc. Thanks to the conversations on this thread, I realized I needed to think about when I listened to music and what music I listened to at those times. I ended up with 5 core playlists- 2 Mile Walk with Leslie (Sansone), Lazy Sunday Afternoon (softer songs), Move-It Music (peppier songs for working out, high energy cleaning and decluttering days, road trips, etc.), Songs for Christmas (with only 17 core favorites- I can always listen to the radio for more variety), and White Noise (3 1-hour recordings of ocean waves, rain sounds, and mountain streams). Obviously, these reflect my own usage.
2) Since I had so few songs left, I removed ALL of my ratings and started "from scratch", assuming almost nothing- although I fairly easily added back the 5-star and 4-star ratings to songs I listen to frequently and love, I made myself listen to any song I usually skipped until I could make a determination. [Here is how I made tracking this easy: I created a new "smart playlist" that pulled in anything with Media Type = Music and Rating = <blank>, and also selected the "match only checked songs" checkbox. As I evaluated each song, I added it to a playlist, then rated it so it would be removed from this list, unchecking it if I decided to delete it. I used a 2-star rating for any songs I was on the fence about for future re-evaluation.]
3) A few hours later, I went back and re-evaluated the 2-star songs and culled some more. Once I finished that process, I think I had about 245 songs left and I honestly thought I would not be able to meet my goal of 200. I was okay with that, since I *thought* I had culled as much as I could.
4) I re-evaluated the 3-star songs. At this point, I started looking at it differently and asking different questions, like "If I only have 200 songs is it weird that this is one of them?"
5) I had 206 songs left after that final review. Then I recalled that the Leslie Sansone Walk album had 12 songs- 6 with voice led instruction and 6 with just the songs. The songs were not ones I would listen to on their own so, voila! I met my goal of 200. :)
I am finding a certain vulerability in having a limit. I guess that is true of decluttering in general, but musical taste is so personal and by placing a limit I have to admit- to myself and others- that I am not as cool as I would like to be. Sunglasses at Night made the cut, but I ultimately deleted ALL of my "cultured" classical music. Even as I type this, I am tempted to defend my choice or find a different example, but the truth is, I will listen to Sunglasses at Night while I work out and it makes me happy. Listening to classical music only makes me feel like I am trying to be someone I am not.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Oh, I also realized that the songs I kept fall into two overarching themes- songs I will probably always love, and songs for a season. Right now, I am enjoying Pink's "Get the Party Started" and Christina Aguilera's "Keeps Getting Better". I almost deleted both, knowing they were songs I would get tired of, but never could bring myself to. Then I realized, it's like your wardrobe. You may have classic black pants and white blouses, but sometimes it's fun to mix it up with the latest fad.
I'll use the 1-in 1-out rule to keep things pared. I would like to find a way to mark the "songs for a season" so I can easily review them when I buy new music. I thought about marking them with a 1-star rating, then 2-5 could be my relative ratings on other songs. Any better ideas? I want to keep it simple and not have a whole new playlist, if possible.
Posted 6 months ago #
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