Years ago, when I got my first iPod and learned my way around iTunes, I made it my goal to collect 4,000 songs. After all, if my shiny little gadget could hold that many, I might as well get my money's worth. My song count quickly hit the quadruple digits and kept growing until I had enough music to last me a week without repeating tracks. No matter that I only listen to the same songs for an hour or two a day. In case I was ever stranded on an island and only had music to entertain me, thousands of songs would surely come in handy.
These days, I find myself consistently listening to the same bands and downloading infrequently - only when I find a true gem. This new less-is-more habit has me thinking. Should I delete the music I never listened to and, let's face it, will never listen? Or is there something to be said for collecting music?
On one hand, deleting songs I never listen to would be like throwing away clothes with the tags still on them. And yet at the same time, these neglected tracks are just giving me a false sense of having diverse taste in music, just like I keep those never-worn sweaters around to give me a false sense of having a larger wardrobe than I actually do.
