Discussing Listener Fatigue and All The Music You'll Never Experience
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- Опубліковано 11 лют 2018
- Today's discussion video is all about that feeling you get as a fan of music, the fatigue that sets in sometimes.
Make sure you join in on the discussion in the comments section!
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The fact that albums with the potential to be my all time favorite will undoubtedly come out after I die is a thought that's kept me up at night.
Fuck I’ve never even thought about that and now it’s all I’ll think about
My fear is more that, by the time i'm dead, art won't be as good anymore (an irrational fear i guess). The idea that there will still be amazing stuff coming out after my death actually makes me happy.
TJ Hastie well at least we have st Vincent :)
I teared up a little bit.
The GOAT albums in question can have no meaning to you after you're dead. Only the albums you get to experience in your lifetime have meaning. And there's plenty of great albums today to find meaning in.
Don't worry about things like that. Remember that the only meaningful instance is NOW.
I sometimes fear that I’m stuck listening to highly revered albums and will avoid slightly maligned/obscure releases out of fear that I’ll “waste my time”
Which idk I feel that having such a high prioritization of someone else’s opinions almost defeats the purpose of having your own opinion
Im the exact opposite haha.
Yeah gotta try and branch out from the typical revered albums sometimes, to find some real gems. It’s difficult though isn’t it, due to the sheer breadth of music available
tends to be an even greater sense of enjoyment with the obscure stuff though, and sharing it with others
imma chang ur opinin remember that all popular albums could have been obscure if everything didn’t go right. I PROMISE you there are albums that exist right now as musically diverse and genre defining as the so called greats that are obscure for no good reason.
2015 Thighpaulsandra - Golden Communion. I would call that album, the Kid A for fans of more experimental music. NO ONE HAS LISTENED TO IT...trust me my boy, they’re out there.
“endless pleasure becomes its own form of punishment.”
Oh yes. too much of a good thing is not good for the soul. Look what it did to me.
@@saintgeorge6706 look how?
@@glumbortango7182 He became a saint.
I LEGIT thought Listener Fatigue and All The Music You'll Never Experience was the name of an indie band
aight, i play bass lets do this
By Fall Out Boy
I'll play drums and accordion. Not at the same time though.
@@KevinoftheCosmos But why not? You could try
Oh boy how can we forget The The
Honestly the idea of never running out of music excites me and makes me want to listen to more. Imagine if it was possible to listen to everything and you got to that point then music really would feel pointless.
Brandon Langfeldt I actually had something like that happen to me recently. I started seriously listening to hip hop about a year or two ago from having hardly ever listened to it before. At first it was overwhelming how much other people were way more educated than me and how I'd never listened to so many classic albums. Now while i haven't heard every classic album or artist and am far from delving into the niches of the art form but there is a weird depressing feeling of having 'run out' of classic hip hop to listen to.
This
It's impossible to listen to everything. Because every time you listen to an album another is released and again and again and again ad infinitum.
Alex G. Welcome to the point
Alex G. Plus when you relisten your ear tends to hear more.
Here's where I have a personal issue: all of my favourite bands are bands I DIDN'T like at first, but instead had to get used to before understanding. So, what if rejecting something because I don't like it puts me in a stagnant, endless loop of the stuff I already like?
I usually listen to most albums or songs two or three times, regardless of how much I initially like or dislike the music. My girlfriend thinks I'm nuts but that's how long it took me to appreciate my current favorite stuff.
Listening to an album all the way through even if you don't like it at first still puts it in your head. If it's something that'll grow on you, it'll keep coming back up in your mind and you'll go back to it.
@christhepisces he's a genius
That’s what happens to me. I used to not like the Doors as a kid, but now I love their music. Especially up until LA Woman cause Morrison is a genius.
I think I'm the same way. But I think subconsciously you know what's going to end up being a favorite and what isn't because it ends up tugging at you little by little. "Maybe I should give this album another try." It takes longer but in my experience you always end up circling back if it's worth remembering.
Does anyone else feel like listen to new music often feels like a chore?
Yes I do. I think my ears are attuned to music from the past.
I sometimes feel this way. Like usually I am all for listening to new music and I thoroughly enjoy exploring my favorite genres, but sometimes I will just have a feeling that I don't want to listen to new things anymore. It usually doesn't last more than a day but during these times I just put on something I am familiar with and relax.
@@hayden6700 Nothing wrong with that feeling of familiarity. It gives me a sense of time and place. The last twenty years of new music little has grabbed my attention and held it. What does that say about music of the modern age and the people that produce it?
@@saintgeorge6706 in my opinion, modern technology makes it so pretty much anyone can make music. So we have way more music being made yearly than in say the 1980s, and most of it is not worth listening to because of the little effort put in. This means that the music that is actually worth listening to is much further underground than it was in the past.
@@hayden6700 The punk notion that anyone can make music still holds and should never be undermined. But the brutal reality is that music made by would be musicians with little to no playing ability and genuine creativity has revealed itself in this ghastly age. Jabbering inane gobbledygook into a microphone over a dumb backbeat or making auto-tune shite on a cheap computer in your bedroom. Will never be the equal of The Beatles, Pink Floyd, David Bowie or Roxy Music. Great music was once part of the mainstream and part of the fabric of society available to everyone. I did once hold the view that a an overdue musical regeneration/revival was at hand. Truthfully don't hold your breath.
As great as listening to lots of music is, if we listened to every album once, decided we loved it and then never listened again because we had to listen to next thing, it would make music tedious and waste the enjoyment repeated listens can give. Great vid!
Definitely agree. You have to take time with music, even more so than an art form like film for example
I've been far too guilty of that. Foobar tells me I've heard over 6,000 albums. (I write "DONE" comments when I've heard something.) But I couldn't give you a coherent opinion on many of them, and it turns out that no one's keeping score. I've been making a conscious effort to consume less music. I have half as many albums from 2017 as I do from 2014, and I'm going to inch that even lower.
I like the quote "Art is how we decorate space; Music is how we decorate time" it kinda sums it up nicely
There’s balance needed
@@timesink8947 Why a person would want to consume less music is something i think i’m better off not understanding.
Oh god, I can relate so hard with that existential dread bit haha
Ghoulish same :((
I developed listener fatigue by listening to too much music which all experience told me I wasn't going to enjoy. I was guilty, for too long, of trusting year end lists from certain websites. I'd see an album on that list from an artist which I simply do not enjoy, but it's #14 on the list so I must listen to it. Too much of that burned me out - first on music, then on the lists. After jettisoning the lists, I'm much happier. I don't need to prove anything to anyone. If (artist I don't like) releases a masterpiece, I'll just have to miss it - I'd rather play the percentages and be happy not slamming into that wall over and over.
Agreed.
I agree. There's too much music out there to listen to every album. This is what singles are for in my opinion. If a band has a great single or music video they have a chance to rake in fans who will afterwards spend their hard earned time listening to and supporting that band's full album. Its how they did it before the music industry broke down....
"imagine if someone had this mindset when they listened to Pablo Honey back in the day and just gave up on Radiohead...", yep, sun would still come up the next day and everything.
I just can't feel right if I don't listen to the lists. But I get that.
Timesink Yes this is literally me! It's like the new St Vincent record for me I loved it until Fantano gave it and now I'm constantly doubting myself for liking it. To be fair reviewers and list introduced me to tons of music but it's always made me biased towards artists that I might actually like
I have definitely experienced listener fatigue before, though to be honest I never really thought it had much to do with the giant amount of music we have access to in the streaming age. It could happen to me even back when I only had like 8 or so different bands I listened to on a regular basis, it's hard to say where precisely it comes from but I think it just happens when you dedicate so much of your time to listening to music in general, be it 5 bands or 500 bands. But my solution to it is basically just to take a break from music and not listen to anything for the rest of the day. By the next day it'll have worn off and I'll be ready to go back to listening. At least that's my experience.
And as for being overwhelmed at the amount of music I'll never experience, that's just not something I've ever really felt bad about. The idea of running out of music to listen to is a much scarier notion for me, the knowledge that there's so much music out there that I have enough material to be able to keep up this channel for basically my entire lifetime even in spite of mostly limiting myself to one genre is something I find more comfort in.
A really good point mate, we should feel grateful that we have so much amazing music to experience. Also as a side note, you should all check out the Wonky Angle, great channel!
Great upcoming channel for people who love electronic music
at about 5 minutes in, something you said reminded me of a concept derived by Slavoj Žižek... 'Interpassivity', the tendency for humans to avoid listening to, or watching something because it is always there/available for us (the "I'll eventually get to it/get to it later" mentality)
I use Nature as a remedy. When i feel saturated by the amount of music that i'm exposed to, i usually go for a walk into the woods or i go to the mountains and i'll just listen to the birds and the crickets and the wind blowing in my ears. In just a few hours the fatigue will fade and my interest in new music will feel renewed. Music can be a very demanding mental activity when you are passionate about it, and stillness is a good way of recovering, just like a good rest after excercise.
This is basically wordsworth 1:1
Wish I had mountains round the corner lol
I have to do this when I people too much.
Try ambient music.
@@saintgeorge6706 I hear Merzbow works well for this purpose too :)
In my teens from the late 1980s I would take about $20-$40 a week and go to the used record store. I had to make choices and was very careful about why I selected. Also when I purchased something I would listen to it. I remember being in about 3rd and listening to the same 3-4 Beatles albums over and over and over for about a year. Or in 5th grade I bought rush’s hemispheres and probably played it ten times the first day I bought it. Etc etc etc
I also think the finite 15-25 of an albums side helped as well. If I was busy I’d just hit return on the turn table and play it again. Sometimes 5-10 times before turning it over or putting something else on.
So having everything in an infinite playlist makes you have infinite breadth but there is less motivation of depth.
Music lists especially more obscure ones can be anxiety producing. About ten years ago I went through everything pitchfork and was miserable. Just ok much. So I stopped.
A solution is to chunk your music. Maybe 100 new songs and listen to them for a month and repeat. Or like the speaker said binge on one group for a month. Also if you play an instrument, learn all the songs on an album.
Music fatigue is just part of the bigger problem of modern life of having everything accessible and the feeling that you have to consume it all. You don’t.
god damn this channel is so underrated
Overwhelming choice is a very secondary reason to experience the fatigue to me. I think about music all day just like you said but it came from my passion for philosophy and psychology. I asked myself a few questions like Why do things get boring? How do human brains learn? Why do we abuse health and reason to the benefit of other values?
When you understand how language, learning and music are connected (mostly during childhood but still after), you see how everything can and usually becomes boring. The chemical engineering of your brain makes you enjoy what brings you food, comfort and later on pleasure. So it's normal that a thing so abstract and fleeting as music, speech or literature gets pretty boring after having sucked all the literal juice out of it in your brain. I think it's much more about that than having a lot of choice.
Sorry if my sentences are long and weird, english is my second language.
Keep up the good content Oliver! Have a good learn.
Loizo Your sentences are neither long nor weird and I would - without prior knowledge - probably think English is your native language. Interesting thoughts, by the way.
I know this is a very late response, but I think you’re right to connect listener fatigue to a lot of general psychological processes. I wanted to add that a lot of the fatigue, particularly in the short term, seems to just reflect the process of habituation. As we continuously expose ourselves to a particular kind of stimulus (like music) in a short period of time, our brains naturally respond less and less (i.e. habituate) to it - both in terms of attentional processing and emotional stimulation. This is something that happens with any environmental stimulus, but I reckon it’s particularly frustrating with music because we tend to expect an immediate emotional reaction from it.
Neuroscientists think that part of the reason we sleep is to essentially undo the chemical processes that lead to habituation (which would explain why being awake for a long time makes us feel inattentive and unresponsive, and why we feel rejuvenated after sleeping). So perhaps one of the best solutions to listener fatigue is simply to get a good night’s sleep. Usually works for me anyway.
This video relieved me because the damn amount of genres made me felt so tired, now I know how to do it right
I just want to let you know my happinnes while reading the comments, we are discussing a general issue and all of you guys are just giving your personal expiriences to the community in such a natural way. That's pretty valuable to me, thanks for sharing.
I am someone who'd never really been into music before the digital/streaming age. I hadn't experienced the process of buying music physically, which I would imagine makes the music a lot more memorable.
In fact I don't need to imagine. Recently I've been buying a select few CD's (because I'm a poor University student) of my very favourite albums. I noticed immediately that there is a heightened significance to popping the disk into the case than a tap on your home screen. You pay attention to it far more, and are always consciously certain of what is being played.
Furthermore, the cover art--as well as the rest of the packaging--plays such a more integral role in how you interpret the music. You feel closer to the artists who made it, and begin to have a better appreciation for album as an wholesome artistic statement.
While I've never really experienced it, I wager that it's a feeling akin to meeting an online friend in the physical immediate for the first time. It is a little bit strange, and you think about it differently, but it is a much more intimate and valuable relationship.
And can you imagine the difference between poor cd leaflets of most pop-music CDs and the richness of information on historical context and "pratica" included in a leaflet of an ancient music CD?
The fact that I'll never listen to most of the music ever made, makes the music I listen to even more special. This thought, which is applicable for different situations, is always the cure for my existential worries.
Only 3 minutes in but stopping to write this:
I've honestly never felt that existential dread about not hearing music I might love. It's interesting that you link it to how you consumed music as a kid, I had UA-cam when I was first getting into music and could just listen to full albums all I wanted, I'm wondering if that's what makes the difference. Or I might just be wired differently from you idk. I definitely experience listening fatigue though, pretty often.
No, same. It's like a half is glass empty mindset, this fear. In any area. Music, films, food, people. You can't possibly know all, you are mortal, art not that much. And that is fine.
maybe I can't listen to all the music
but I can try :^)
migu247 Listen to 2 or 3 albums at the same time from different sources. You can listen to so much more
Rubbish, 5 at once is the way
@@deepcuts i mean i did manage to binge listen to 4 system of a down albums at once
@@electricpants8194 Where'd you get them pants?
@@SWIM5QUAD vsauce.
I definitely go through periods of listener fatigue. Sometimes just a matter of switching to a different genre, but sometimes even that doesn’t work.
What really works for me is coming up with movie concepts and tackling the challenge of soundtracking them. It’s increasingly challenging to make them all unique - I’ve made over 180 of them. But given a story concept, it gives my brain something more to chew on while I listening.
"pick one artist and listen to it." Trying to beat me by listening to more music than me, huh Oliver?
Just kidding. This was a fantastic video (as always) and the concept of "space-time compression" is absolutely fascinating and a good descriptor of this phenomenon. For me lately, it's been less about listening to more new music, but revisiting albums I love. I'm such a nostalgic person, each time of the year makes me want to venture back to what I was listening to at this time last year, or the year before, etc. Luckily last.fm has been a godsend in giving me a bird's eye view of my habits and tastes over the years.
Damn right Taylor! ;) last.fm is definitely a good tool, as are resources like The Wire magazine, the quietus etc.
I get these feelings even when I'm in a record store, feeling overwhelmed by the number of choices available. In the end, I have to remind myself that this is ok and it's kind of beautiful that humans have created so much stuff before and will probably keep creating things long after I'm gone
One of the biggest struggles I find. Is that when I do come across good music, I look into the artist and find that the majority of their music is nowhere near as good as the initial song. So finding good music is as random as finding a needle in a hay stack because I end up only ever enjoying that one song by them and there is no way for me to find anything similar since the rest of their music is nowhere close to the introductory song.
Is there a reason for that? Cause I feel like listening to that one song by them will burn me out even worse, and I have no idea where to look for similar sounds.
Don't look for similar sounds, look for sounds you like
I have this with albums, many of my favorite albums I haven't bothered trying the artists' other albums because it tends to disappoint. I've come to find that it's because I EXPECT the rest of these artists' music to be similarly enjoyable is what sets me up for disappointment. Now I try to just go with the flow of my whim, and not expect things from music and just relax and appreciate what the music IS delivering.
@@klojoify It isn't really my expectation. I mainly expect qualities. Be it in genre, or vocals, or themes. Most of these artists that I am finding one off good songs from only ever have one or two albums at most. Most of which are just a collection of random singles they released before hand and rereleased as a full album. I only ever like one song and none of the rest of their music sounds necessarily good, not that its terrible. But none of it catches my attention or has a sound i particularly care for.
When I find bands or artists with larger discographies I tend to listen to all of their music from oldest to newest and I find plenty of great songs. But when it comes to a lot of smaller artists. I tend to get very disappointed. These are bands or artists that are out of the main stream. Maybe 1000 to 10000 followers.
I grew up consuming cds/tapes. Sure an single would sell the albums for the most part, you had to learn to enjoy the album in full or it’d just be a waste. May be it could be that if you possibly grew up under the mp3 era. I’m not sure, I personally look for entire albums, one good song and the rest of the album sucking usually keeps me away from many, many artists/bands.
Find the album, press play and listen. Do not deviate until it is finished.
I grew up with UA-cam, and I've never really needed to _look_ for music, UA-cam just kinda recommends a song to me sometimes and I'll listen to it for hours on end, which is how I've started listening to jazz recently, and I'm really happy for it. It does make me a bit sad knowing that most of the artists I'm just now finding are people that will never compose or play again. Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, John Coltrane, Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, their bands and everyone who played with them, are some of the jazz musicians I've found that we're just never going to hear from again. That's what really gets me down: there's all these great musicians that I've found that no one is ever going to hear _more_ from.
I think this is what led me to making music. I try to make stuff I wanna hear.
This hardcore happened to me throughout 2017 to point where at the end of the year my Spotify statistics said I only listened to about 10,000 minutes of music (as opposed to the usual 60-70,000). I think what happened was I felt overwhelmed with so many options. Being a huge gamer, this has happened for video games as well. For 2018 as a new years resolution I said that I would listen to at least 4 albums a day (whether if it's new to me or if I've listened to it before) and its really helped reinvigorate my passion for this art. I've also started to really enjoy being a more active listener like if an album is very lyrically focused, I'll pull up the lyrics and read along and then I'll do some research on the background of the album.
I never really think about “active listening”. I’ll just look up stuff related to an album if I think it’s interesting in some way out of habit.
When I sit down to listen to an album, I too sometimes become an active listener and read the lyrics on Genius.com while the music plays. It keeps me from getting too distracted.
JD Jantz I should totally do this more. I think it's the natural next level of loving an album. Hear it the first time, absorn it, and later bring up the lyrics and read along. Possibly learn about the band/artist's history as well. Music is fucking awesome
where do you find 4 worthwhile albums to listen to everyday?
Pibbface Spotify and Bandcamp are wonderful things
I would feel more upset if I had listened to everything ever created. The fact that there is so much new and even old music that I have not listened to yet, and more coming out is so satisfying.
too much info and knowledge but no time to actually really feel it all, all that art.
really interesting topic deep cuts!
love the part about buying records - it might be a bold statement, but before the big wave of everything by click on the internet, people somehow approached music with much more honesty and passion. just imagining my mum saving up for the new smiths or james record and sitting there replaying it thousands of times, filling the room and her daily routine with its sound kinda makes me feel stupid with this "why bother when there is so much art and im not enjoying it anymore" thing of mine. it really changes things up in your head when you learn about all those bandcamp musicians or full album uploads on youtube by some random bands which made you feel all sorts of beautiful things inside and you realise that its just some small part of a whole ocean of sound that you would probably love. it makes you feel small in some way. but by realising this you kinda shut your "feel filters" (okay this is really getting out of hand with these terms ahahah im gonna stop soon) and ask yourself again "why bother?" its the same for me, and probably for a lot of other people with all sorts of things - starting with music to movies, novels, poetry books, comics, animated series/movies
i think its about the feeling much more than about knowledge in music. this sounds like something elementary kid would say but ahahah, really, why push yourself every friday to keep up with new albums if you're not enjoying it? we kinda owe it to the artists that we love so much to love their work will all our hearts.
and yeah! would love to see a video about first records that you bought or anything in that direction. maybe how people around you shaped and influenced your music taste too
Love that last sentence, beautifully put mate. At the same time we shouldn’t forget how great it is for us to have access to all this music. I’m sure I wouldn’t have discovered my favourite albums from last year without the access we have have now
music means something to us because it spoke to us in that moment. I've "outgrown" certain songs-- like those super depressing songs that spoke to me when i was feeling reallly bad about myself. I don't really like them now, but i love them because they got me through that rough time.
I got listeners fatigue a couple months ago-- couldn't stand to listen to anyone sing-- i found some amazing instrumentals/ vaporwave/slowed down melodies.
I don't really like heavy metal, but i've grown to love the people because of the sheer enthusiasm and love those listeners have for the genre, and while it makes me sad that i'm missing out on so many good songs, what makes me saddest is that i'm unable to appreciate good music because i can't connect to it. Say what you will about shitty music, but someone out there is making really good memories to it-- and i'm very excited for whatever comes next.
this guy is so smart, but not in an intimidating or pretentious way. he makes me feel smart too lol. thanks, oliver!
I think sometimes even us music lovers want silence a little more than we realize.
Music is life and I'm always wanting to hear more more new new new shit that changes my perception of the world, my worldview, and my place in it. Nothing is more addicting than that feeling of breaking through a static mindstate by the transcendence of a musical experience that changes everything for me, one that alters my interactions w the world so drastically that I can never go back to seeing and experiencing life in quite the same way. Meanwhile, I have to accept the mediocrity of good music, or even great music that I enjoy and even love very much while I'm waiting between transformational aural events. When I'm in this holding pattern is when I'm looking and experiencing the most music, eventually falling into fatigue by the combo of listening to so much new music and desperately searching for those scary, reality-bending sounds that start off a new phase in my life marked, as all new phases are marked, by the jolting, terrifying shock of the new paradigm where my self suddenly has the capacity and drive for ALL forms of media that I previously did not get or never would have considered in film, TV, philosophy, political and economic writings and even interface and understanding of humanity. Heady and desperate times and so infrequent (every few years or so, like archeological discoveries). But in those low troughs of fatigue, when I'm aware I'm trying to hard to force the next stage, is when I find I'm at my most peaceful and balanced by withdrawing from the search. I take a lot of walks, hikes and bike rides. I play the banjo. I steer clear of bars and the Internet listening only to old, safe, once life-changing music worn safe by obsession. I go see my parents, do busy work; I guess I let go. Then, when I am really not expecting it, from out of nowhere (certainly not where I expect) I'm hit with that album or label or band or genre I never could have predicted expected or imagined and off I go again, tripping high asf on a major shift in my perception. Thx
I find creating music helps with this a lot. Some of my favorite artists across genres and decades really didn't listen to that much music, certainly not as much as most of the people watching this video. They found a genre or artist that really inspired them, then they poured their art into it and made something new.
I've always been a genre toe-dipper, and I jump from artist to artist and style to style, so I feel that stagnation quite rarely. I feel like I listen to new music in that way to AVOID that feeling; I'd never deep dive into one genre over a long period of time, or one artist's discography. I still have that feeling of missing loads of stuff with how quick I'll move on from a genre, artist, etc. but it's the most efficient way for me personally.
This video is SO IMPORTANT! Thank you!
I LOVE YOU DEEP CUTS AND I LIVE FOR YOUR INCREDIBLE VIDEOS
*Thank you, really needed to hear this*
Thank you so much, I needed this so badly
I needed to hear that closing point very much. Great vid!
I had this feeling so many times. But I never could´ve put it into words like you. Quality Channel !
It happens to me pretty regularly. I'm probably depressed.
Fun fact, Death Grips and Black Marble are the ones who got me "out" of it for the longest time.
How ar you doing now?
-xX666Archain666Xx- I Approved by China 1927-1949 I do exactly the same with Death Grips lol
I suffered from listening fatigue just a little while ago. I was very specific with what I listened to, mostly just Rock and Metal. But I stumbled upon a vaporwave album, of all things, and it ignited a spark in me. I started listening to more of the genre, and delved deep into sub genres and such while also learning about the history of the genre and I have never felt better. I started listening to more and more genres and I've found so much more good music out there
I often feel guilty for listening to music that I know I enjoy because then I'm not listening to music that I might also enjoy. Then if I end up not liking the new stuff it feels like a waste of time. Working to change that mindset though..
I have the opposite dread. I spend so much time and effort following rabbit holes of the influences of bands I like, and their influences’ influences, that I don’t keep up with new releases.
I have friends who are constantly discovering new bands, and I genuinely don’t know how they do it.
I experience Listener Fatigue maybe 3 times a year or so, I've been deep diving music and different genres for about 10 years now. I usually try to use that time to break into an entire new genre that I never really listened to before and learn the roots of where the genre started and who influenced it. Or find an artist that really changes the way I listen to certain sounds, Frank Zappa, Primus, Death Grips, and even Kendrick Lamar all changed my views drastically after diving in.
Recently though, always trying to reach for the next "NEW" genre for me to fill my void has left me feeling weird, what I got so excited about before was the organic discovery that was led by nothing but clicking around and stumbling on that next great thing. I have been going back and regrounding myself in MY roots the music I was listening to 8 or 9 years ago, the metal stuff that got me all hyped earlier, its nice to revisit things.
I'm so glad you talked about this, because I experience it really often, which is frustrating as music is my hobbie. Fortunately, your channel has helped me massively, last year was by far the one which my music taste grew more diverse. Your way of tackling some genres and albums were so helpful to get me through this annoying fatigue and expand my musical palette, and for that, you've been my favourite channel on UA-cam for the last year. All the advice you gave us on this video has been the way I've approached music lately. Of course, there are many ways to listen to certain artists or albums, it depends on the mood or the place you're in, I can't listen to Vespertine by Björk or a lyric-heavy song, on the bus, for example, as it looses that intimate atmosphere, and ultimately, its meaning. There are many variables and solutions involved as there are genres, artists and albums themselves.
Thanks for the creation mate
I had listener fatigue sometimes when I still purchased CD’s. I had, like, 2000 CDs. So much music. But sometimes I couldn’t find anything that was what I wanted to hear. Even my favorite things-especially my favorite things.
i feel like i never get the fatigue because i always have certain songs that have really strong memories attached to them. Whenever i feel sick of exploring i listen to songs from when i was in a really dark place and it makes me so emotional that it just gets me back in the mood to find more songs i can make memories with.
Thanks Oliver for describing perfectly what I have been struggling to put into words for years. Yes, listener's fatigue is real and frustrating, and in my own experience a "chronic" condition. It's easy to get lost in the endless digital catalogues and losing the focus on a record, listening to many albums but not fully appreciating a single one to its full potential. That's why changing music format helps me a lot, especially listening to CDs and enjoying the spinning of a vinyl with a beautiful artwork.
Thanks for the cool video and tips!
Love your channel Oliver ! Most interesting music topics on the whole of UA-cam ! Thankyou so much and keep up the incredible hard work :)
You’re too kind, thanks so much!
when this happens to me i go through some artists in a genre i've been willing to get into but never did, and i listen to like 2 most popular songs by each artist and hopefully i'll find something catchy and interesting. those are the key words, it needs to make me wanna sing with it and i'll need be amazed by the sound and creativity. great video, btw
Flightless Bird I was gonna say the same thing. It’s almost like I never get fatigued because of other stuff I’ve been meaning to check out I could check out when I feel like I need something new!
The most popular songs aren't always the ones that highlight the essence of the artist.
When exploring a new artist, I try to ignore their most popular songs and just skip ahead to their album with the prettiest cover and I choose the song with an Interesting title, it works well
I definitely encounter that feeling quite regulary recently, with music and other things. I don't wonder particulary about what great pieces I'm missing out on, but rather I wonder if the enjoyment I get from whatever song is illusory and if I simply lack the frame of references to gauge the quality of whatever I'm listening to. Then if I try to be more scrutinous, like you said I see that I'll never be able to hear 1/1000 of the music out there . So this examination ends up being like a snake biting its own tail, and I end up being more confused about what it means for something to be good or bad, enjoyable or not and it kinda puts me off of most music, books, movies, or whatever.
Thanks for the videos by the way, they're really cool.
I'm gonna try watching a random movie and hearing a random album once every week
WELCH FILMS I once wanted to listen to an album every day but it turned out to be a bit excessive. One a week sounds way more doable!
WELCH FILMS I once wanted to listen to an album every day but it turned out to be a bit excessive. One a week sounds way more doable!
There is so much music out there that you can find a song that exactly matches how you feel at any given moment. Because of that sometimes I find myself searching for that exact song an exact feeling which can turn into a frustrating search. I've found that grouping songs/artists into overarching 'themes', like 'slow day' or 'feeling active', and running with whole theme instead of finding a perfect song has helped. Plus sometimes I get through a couple songs on one theme and realise, actually I'm not feeling like that it was just a passing moment, which is nice in itself.
This was an extremely helpful video.
Glad to help Jeffery!
Great concept! Great video!
This is beautiful
Thank you very much
Very insightful and consoling
whenever I get that feel I would listen to "Option Paralysis" because it describe it perfectly :
so many options and yet and can't pick anything in particular
I identify with this SO MUCH. As someone who has only recently started delving more deeply into different and new (to me) genres and artists, I feel completely overwhelmed at the idea of there being so many great artists and records I’ve not yet been exposed to but don’t feel like I’ll ever have the time to explore. To be honest this channel has exposed me to a ton a new music and for that I’m both incredibly grateful and also frustrated that there’s so much to still learn!
Also the idea of any and all types of music being constantly available absolutely makes sense as to why we all feel this way. It’s almost like decision paralysis in some circumstances
Hmm I never feel music fatigue. I love discovering new artists and never tire of my favourites. But I don’t worry about the music I haven’t heard yet... I feel like most of the music that is most important to me..found me.
omg thank you for putting into words what I haven't been able to!
Very thought provoking. Thanks for your content🌊🐚🎶
Thank you for this, Oliver. I miss your videos.
I remember the 20th century and do remember feeling the same fatigue or ennui about music at times.
For me, a reset is just not listening. Silence if you will. The moment passes, the radio turns on, an email from a favorite media source comes in or a channel like this offers a new suggestion and the passion is relit.
Hi, I'm a huge fan of your channel. Sometimes I feel quite overwhelmed with the quantity of music I listen to, so when I kind of feel like listening to nothing in particular, I listen to really catchy pop songs and usually clears my mind and allows me to go back to my usual listening. When the empty feeling is just too much I "ban" certain artist or genre and simply don't listen to them for like a month or so, and then I get the nice feeling again. It's kind of strange but usually helps.
In the case of feeling stressed because there's lots of music I won't listen to, I've never truly felt bad, but there are certain artist that can trigger this kind of feeling, that's for sure.
Hope that helps.
Cheers.
AAAA I HAD LISTENER FATIGUE FOR OFF AND ON FOR ABOUT A YEAR. NOBODY HAD A CLUE WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT. It was during a rough time. I always wondered if the two were connected. Thanks for starting this conversation. I'm glad this was in my recommended!!
Both your video and many of the comments address the problem really well. When I take a day off from listening I quite enjoy that in itself, knowing that I'll be ready to listen properly later on. Listening to one album 20 times is better than listening to 20 albums once. When I lived in London during the 80s & 90s, I would go to the National Gallery, look at one painting, then leave to avoid the same kind of fatigue. With so much available in all media, you have to make a decision on how best to enjoy things for yourself.
I relate to this hard, I've felt so listener fatigued since New Years and have just been listening to podcasts 90% of the time since then. This video was helpful, thanks
I've never had the existential dread you talk about in the beginning of the episode. I just have so much music that I love already that I'm not at all worried about missing out on new music. I'm always searching, but I've got a great big pile to fall back onto.
love this video, suscribed
The process you outlined in the first minute resonated with me so much. I make an hour commute to central London every day and I always need something to listen to. Sometimes I just cannot find anything to constitute a soundtrack for it, and go through the exact same thought process you mentioned
Happens to me constantly. I detox through listening to a completely different genre - in my case, either classical or instrumental jazz. Switching genres can totally refresh your perspective!
I agree with Oliver and his solutions . I think listening to music alone too much is also contributing. I find building a social element in: gigs, sharing, discussing, analysing and making new connections with other music helps.
Omg. I'm in love 😍 thank u. I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL. I've found my place
I can relate to this. Music is eveything to me so I listen to it everyday. Best way to deal with listeners fatigue, is to listen to different genres. I've noticed a lot of people hardly venture out of their favourite genre. Taking a break from Music for a couple of days helps too.
This makes me depressed. Our favorite album, film, painting, video game could be out there but we'll never know because we might never be exposed to it
Wow , i think you must be able to see inside of my head. It is uncanny how you have nailed this bizarre occurrence, as i thought this was peculiar to myself. The bad news for you is that this doesn't get any better as you get older. With a vast collection i still at times spend more time trying to select something than actually listening to it . At 61 i am as passionate about music as you clearly are and still keep discovering new/old music, stuff that i missed first time around. Some of which go straight into my favourite ever albums , and wonder how i got through life without it. I am constantly impressed by your eclectic taste and enthusiasm , keep up the good work.
I definitely understand listener fatigue and feel it all the time , mine often comes from trying to find and listen to what inspires the artists I love. My mindset seems to be that if that’s what inspired them to create the music I like then I’ll probably like those influences too but obviously the sheer number of places that artists find inspiration means that pursuing this takes time and effort and often leads me to feeling like I ‘should’ like certain albums/genres/artists. Great video and good discussion, this is the first time I’d heard someone put a name on this feeling.
Let go and be in the moment with the music indeed. What compelled me when I spent more time searching music is the relationship between artists with similar sounds. You find that it is a trail of inspiration that you can learn from and enjoy listening to.
Thanks for the video, man. I've been feeling like that a lot lately, and this video helped me to clear my thoughts a little. I have a hear later 400 music playlist (I haven't heard even half of it) and I listen to a bunch of music youtube recommends me, and because of this i'm feeling extremely overwhelmed, my playlist just gets bigger everyday and youtube just keeps recommending me new stuff. I tried to stop sometimes but I Always get myself thinking: "what if this music changes my life?" And one more song to the playlist/minutes spent. This gave me some strength to slow down and listen more consciously to music. Thank you.
I turned 60 last year and started to love and collect music since I was 10 so I grew up with the situation that there was always much more out there than I would know about or could afford - or ever would have time to even if I had all the resources. I became an airline pilot and travelled all over the world - but same there, I have not been to all places on the planet and I never will. You can apply it to all aspects of life. You find a partner and love him or her but you will never know if there would not have been someone else somewhere...Does that make me love him less? Surely not.
I apply this to music as well. There are albums I found along my lifetime and that I love. This stands on its own and I can enjoy them regardless of the vague idea that there may be better ones somewhere. Life is constant learning and growing and one of the exciting aspects is that there will always be new things to discover.
The music I found and love is a large part of who I am today. But again, I will change and develop until my last day (hopefully I will be able to recognise it). There will always be something new and it will find its place among the old memories/experiences. There is really no goal to reach and therefore there is no point where you can fail. Consequently there is no need to be frustrated.
Carpe Diem.
Thank you!
Interesting video. I have recently reached a level of listener fatigue. I listen to music everyday and also play music for a living. I have found that I get to a point where I'm not mentally or physically reacting to it, getting detached and emotionless toward it. The overload is draining. Great timing on your part...the echo factor was reassuring!
In 2020 I challenged myself to listen to 500 new releases, Jan 1-Dec 31, I managed to check out 600 by the end of the year and when 2021 rolled around I didn't want to hear anything. Took me a bit to get started and I was so overwhelmed after 2020 that this year I didn't crack 200. I did manage to explore genres that were new to me and older artists I passed over. Listener fatigue is real and this video was excellent. Thanks.
Wow. I have this same thought a lot. I love you man
Thank you so very much for this video! I never really thought about other people having this problem as well. Listening to albums instead of playlists and discovering new artists one by one definitely helps me when I get that feeling. Your video guides help a lot too btw 😁
Edit: One thing I forgot is that I watch concerts and live perfomances to overcome that phase.. :p
Glad the videos help! Also good point, live performances can really help ignite your interest again
I am experiencing huge listener fatigue, at the moment. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as, I find that this helps me branch out to find new and exciting things. I find that completely switching genres to combat listener fatigue is a very helpful way to bring the excitement back. I think that it is important to keep some level of discovery and wonder that is similar to our younger years when we were first discovering the strength of music and how music manipulates and creates our emotions.
I was an indie kid, and was 11 when Nirvana’s Nevermind was released. This was my “dawning” of music discovery. Being brought up on a steady diet of Bowie, T-Rex, and Steve Wonder from my parents, and Sex Pistols, Lou Reed, and goth punk from my uncle, you can probably tell that I will always have guitar based music as my go-to genre. But, thanks to (yes, THANKS to) listener fatigue, I have discovered some fascinating music that I would have never found if I had stuck to guitar based music. Com Truise, Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore, Chinese Football, Somnambulist Quintet, Tim Hecker, to name a few.
I completely agree that buying music, and investing time and effort into acquiring music is a key point to ensuring that music stays precious. We exist in an incredibly “throw-away” society that enables us to acquire and discard with breathtaking ease. This has such a negative effect on how special items are to us. Even the invention of skipping tracks is guilty of degrading the integrity of music. With this, I’d argue that vinyl and vinyl shops are king for music. We have to make the effort to not only go out and buy the record from a record shop, but, we also have to make the effort to listen to said purchase. We can’t as easily skip to the next track, so we make the effort to listen to even the bad tracks, and in doing so, we understand the art better. It becomes an investment of our time which then enriches our lives.
I love this music channel. Keep up the good work.
Usually when I don't like a song or a band I don't throw it away, I put it on a mental shelf and days/weeks/months/years later I give it another listen and then I instantly like or love it!
I often find that what I would interpret as “listener fatigue” is connected to my mood. Part of this has to do with how I tend to attempt to compliment my mood with the music I listen to. I experience a degree of frustration/dread when I’m feeling a certain way and I can’t seem to find any music that compliments it. I’ll scroll through my favorite songs or search through new ones and find that they simply fail to express my emotions in that moment. Usually this feeling passes fairly quickly as the next day brings new thoughts and new emotions to explore. Sometimes my favorites make a comeback, sometimes a newer song/record “clicks”, sometimes I listen to something new and it just fits the moment.
I admit I’m not sure if I’m necessarily speaking of “listener fatigue” simply because I don’t go out of my way to consume more than a couple new albums a week. However I do spend a lot of time listening to my current/longtime favorites.
P.S. Thanks for the Mogwai recommendation Oliver :) never listened to post rock before!
When I can’t find something new I want to listen, I just make a sort of “music fasting” and focus on films, books or videogames (not all at the same time off course).
And eventually, the passion and taste for music comes back by itself, it helps me have an ear for new music genres I usually ignore too, because it kinda cleans my ear I guess.
Maybe it’s just because I’m not a diehard music fan but I actually like the thought that there’s so much music out there that I would like that I’ll never experience it all, to me that just means that no matter how much music I listen to I’ll never run out. I’m content with the songs that I like currently and as soon as I’m not there will always be more for me
Fantastic video, and one in a long line. I'm your fan.
For myself, if I detect listener fatigue I often switch formats: I'll read a book. Or go for a hike. Or even something as seemingly unproductive as a nap. Those are all ways to hit reset. Afterwards I'll reach for that Tad album, or Eric Dolphy, or Pentangle... something I haven't touched in years. It will energize me in new ways.
I'm going through this at the moment. Haven't properly listened to a song for about a month. I think I will take your advice and listen to one of my all time favourite songs and not stress too much.
I agree with most of your thoughts. I have an endless list of music that people recommended to me and it's still growing. Luckily, music is rather quick to experience, faster than a movie or a book, so I can listen to my favourite albums many times and still discover new music. Sometimes I also feel like not finding anything interesting to listen to, but that doesn't bother me so much cause I always have new music to discover and that makes me want to always keep listening to more artists I have never heard about.
Yes, instant availability of so much music is definitely something that I'm getting less and less fond of. We talk about music daily with the cook at my workplace. And I'll never thank him enough for lending me a copy of Red, and only Red, and telling me "You listen to this one a few times and only then I'll lend you the album that came after that, and so on." It gives value to the experience. :)
Sometimes I feel I don’t even enjoy music. Like “why do I listen, it’s just a bunch of sounds”. Then another day I can get incredible kicks from any random track, and sound so damn good. It seem it’s dependent on a state of mind or a mood. Sometimes the best tracks suck and sometimes the other way around