Ann Powers: Werden Alben wie Filme?

Im Podcast von NPRs Musiksendung All Songs Considered entspann sich heute eine interessante Diskussion:

Robin Hilton: If you asked me, what was my favorite record this year, I’d say the Sufjan Stevens record by far and I feel like I listened to that record a million times. And I went to my iTunes and looked at the play count. 18 Times.

Ann Powers: Wow.

Robin: 18 Times I listened to that record.

Bob Boilen: I threw out a poll yesterday that asked people: favorite album, how many times did you listen to it? And 50 percent of the people listened to their very favorite album of the year less than 20 times. So that means they can go two weeks without hearing the record. That surprised me.

Robin: There’s no time for … I felt like, to dig deep into the record.

Bob: I wonder what that means to an artist as deep a Björk.

Ann: Well, I have an opinion about that. Maybe certain albums are becoming more like films. You don’t … I mean, people who love films are seeing them over and over again, but others see a film once or possibly twice. Maybe this is a good listening practice to consider: take a record like [Björk’s “Vulnicura”], when you’re listening to it, treat it like a film. Truly immerse. Don’t do the dishes. Don’t be on your phone, playing minecraft or whatever the kids play these days …

Robin: Mind Candy Crush Craft?

Stephen Thompson: Stop it with your Pacman and your Donkey Kong.

Ann: Just listen to the music, people.

Stephen: It think that is a really good point. Think about your favourite movie of all time. How many times have you seen it? I’m not even sure my favorite movie is the one I’ve seen the most. A movie like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I’ve only seen a few times, but it’s constantly spinning in my memory.

Ann: So true. Unlike Mean Girls, which I have seen 3.000 million times, because my 12-year-old is obsessed with it.

Seit es Playlists und mp3-Player gibt, höre ich meine Lieblingsalben definitiv nicht mehr so oft. Everything Everythings Album Get to Heaven, wahrscheinlich mein Lieblingsalbum des Jahres, hat auf meiner Last.fm-Seite gerade mal 97 Plays insgesamt, einzelne Songs habe ich nur vier mal gehört, “No Reptiles”, meinen Lieblingssong vom Album, 14 mal. Bewusst ganz gehört habe ich es wahrscheinlich dreimal. Meinen Lieblingsfilm aller Zeiten, 2001: A Space Odyssey, habe ich fünf Mal gesehen, ebenfalls so bewusst, dass ich mich an jedes einzelne Mal erinnern kann (auf VHS, im Kino, im Kino, auf DVD, auf BluRay).

Der Hauptgrund dafür ist sicher, dass einem so viel mehr Inhalte jederzeit zur Verfügung stehen. Aber ich glaube ja, dass man deswegen nicht trotzdem entspannt sein kann.