I was talking to my friend Davey a couple of weeks ago and we were discussing music collections. It is really funny because we started to think about the way the iPod (or any MP3 player or collection) has change the way we listen to music. The questions came up “When was the last time you listened to a complete album?”, “What was the last new artist that you discovered or were turned on to?”. It is funny because I thought I was the only one struggling with this issue. Do get me wrong I love being able to lug my entire music collection with me in a nice tidy package but I miss the discovering new music. I have a wide verity of music styles and tastes that I listen to and it is hard to find one place to get new music. It was only recently that I actually changed the way I purchased CD’s or MP3 (a’la iTunes). The change happened when I purchased my new car and has carried over into the way I handle my music now.
My new car (BMW 330i) has a single in dash Harmon-Kardon system. I had a iCruz installed so I could hook up my MP3 player and play the music through the system with having to replace the current system which is absolutely perfect. This has allowed me to purchase a CD or burn a CD that I purchased in from iTunes listen to it completely. I have stopped the habit of purchasing an album and immediately ripping into my collection and then having the CD case collect dust. This has been wonderful because it forces me to listen to artist complete vision as opposed to select hits.
The second thing that I did was purchase Sirius satellite radio. This has been amazing. I actually listen to it more than I listen to my MP3′s. It is amazing the amount of music that is accessible and the variety.
The latest thing that I was turned on to is Pandora. This is a pretty sweet little system. You simply create a channel based on an artist you currently enjoy and it finds similar to that one that other people have recommended. I have signed up for the service and it is pretty amazing. I have found and casually listened to a number of artist that I normally wouldn’t listen to or had know about. If you are a Mac user there is even a Widget for it.
I am still trying to find new ways to enjoy must of my music and discover new music. I will update more later now back to work.

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