Do you JUST listen to music or do you have music on while doing other things?

At home, it's mostly 'dancing round the room' with the kids. Busted, Ramones, Sclub and so on.

(You disallowed Driving? That's at least 97% of how...)

At the risk of stating the overwhelmingly obvious - some records are okay to have on in the background, some demand attention. Yoko Ono doesn't really work as background music. If I play something like that I have to stop and sit and listen to it. Or dance to it, if its that sort of music. A lot of this involves dancing around the living room, feeling like I'm a thirty year old trying to be a seventeen year old.
Which is probably pretty accurate, actually.

95% was listened to while surfing the net. Other than that, it's drive music, or sitting in my brother's room listening to his record player because my friend brought over a Rush album and my brother had Snapple inflatable furniture which he purchased via 200 snapple caps.

This might sound a bit daft, but when I can get the time (which is admittedly pretty rare these days), the only way for me to totally concentrate on music is to roll a few cigarettes, turn out the lights, close the curtains, lie down on a rug with the speakers set up either side of my head and turn the volume right up.

not including driving to/from work :

i get time @ work when things are quiet i have the earplugs .. then there's the lunch hour - minidisc goes on walkabout with me and makes the world feel good.

at home solo time is a rare event and therefore normally requires non-ireallylovemusic sanctioned grooves as its for all the family .. (ramones/busted/pixies etc etc)

is smoking a joint an activity?

Is it more or less important than the act of listening? Or a symbiotic accompanyment to it?

I'll rarely deliberately choose to listen to music while doing nothing else (unless going to work counts) (oh and apart from putting loud pop/dance music on when getting ready to go out), but if I'm listening to music while reading a book/on the internet, I'll often switch my attention back and forth.

I listen for 3 - 6 hours on headphones at work. Can't beat the slsk+ personal mp3 player combination for new listening pleasures. While I'm listening at work I'm either programming or internetting.

My stereo is in operation 90% of the time I'm home and awake. Sometimes I listen exclusively, sitting in my big swivel chair in front of the speakers. If I'm really excited I will even turn off the computer to silence its whirring and/or turn out the lights! More often I am using a computer; sometimes I am doing chores or cooking or even dancing around. I used to put on music without vocals when I read but I tend to find even that distracting, nowadays.

I will sometimes just listen to my music while lying down on my bed, and I love it but know I will probably only stay awake for a few songs.

Otherwise closest I get to dedicated listening is in the car, or while staring at my computer screen at home. I rarely put on music intentionally for background, though.

Basically...

I have my iPod while commuting to work, and at work we play music ambiently in the office (iPod again, often on random, though we have a large amount of jazz etcetera at work too). At home in my bedroom / office whilst surfing / playing Champ / writing / doing anything at the PC or in the room generally I have a Denon mini system that I listen to stuff on whilst doing whateveritis, and which is set up so the speakers are positioned nicely to listen to music in/on my bed.

I don't often listen to music before going out, because I don't really "go out" as such - if I do anything even close it's just going down the pub to chat shit with friends, and I don't get changed for that. I've never been massively into clubs or bars because I find it suitable neither for listening to music or enjoying a drink or talking to people, which are the three things I'd want to be able to do.

But I also have the "music room" as I call it, where I keep my CD collection and my seperates hi-fi and also my TV and DVD player - this is a dedicated room, basically, for listening and watching (and playing PS1 [soon to be Xbox]). A few times a week, sometimes everyday, sometimes less often, I like to sit down and listen to a record in much the same way as you'd watch a film; sitting down, focusing, lights off (or maybe just lamp on) and soak it in.

I'm intrigued by the ideas of conenctions between modes and methods of consumption of music and musical taste...

Don't die, beautiful thread.

sometimes i do something else in order to listen to music, so the other activity - like reading a magazine - essentially becomes the background for the music-listening. even though it could be argued (but wouldn't be by me) that music is the more passive activity.

sometimes when i work late, then go to a bar after, i get home and see that cds have arrived in the mail, and i do tend to - clumsily, drunkenly - tear them open and listen intently. the music is definitely the focus, over drunkeness, but the ability to focus with such excitement is certainly enhanced by the drink.

I play music all day long at work.. ipod + cds ripped to my work HD.

Favorite post college passtime: getting high and sitting around my studio apartment and watching tv w/ closed caption whilst playing records.

I like to just sit on the couch to digest an album...I know for a lot of people this would be deathly boring, but to me it's more entertaining than watching TV. It helps if it's dark out, and it's great to do with friends too, if they're into it. The last record I did this with was 'Aja' and it really blew me away.

I have done all this stuff like you guys, lying on floor and listening in the twilight (hardly ever nowadays) listening at work, on subway. Usually am doing something else: typing, reading, surfing, walking, with one big exception: very first time I listen don't do anything else except maybe walk around w/ the earbuds in.

How many people close their eyes for 'serious' listening? I get a very different experience when I listen to something with lids firmly shut. No question it aids in focussing, and if I'm listening on a nice stereo, the room can just disappear, I suppose because conflicting location/spacial information from the eyes goes away. But even when using headphones I'll do it, or, when I was in school, if the prof put on something for the class, I often would (and hope that she didn't think I was nodding off).

if i'm on the web or reading a book, i'll also be listening to music. if i'm listening to music, most of the time i'll also be on the web or reading a book.

in the mornings and evenings i usually sit on the bus with the ipod and a newspaper; that said, quite often i'll find myself lost in a song and then realise five minutes later that i've been staring slack-jawed at page two of the herald for far too long.

i remember trying to revise for my A levels and listen to "closer" by joy division at the same time. that was the point when i realised that a very small number albums do actually need your undivided attention. (and closed eyes, yes.) last one to get this treatment was the new aereogramme mini-album, although that had a lot to do with my mood at the time.

no one has mentioned listening to music while playing video games on mute.

As long as I'm not watching TV, music is playing. Sometimes I find it hard if I'm reading a book that requires my full attention - I will listen to something without vocals - I find that helps.

I usually don't listen to music if I need my ears for something else. Most of my listening is done using headphones, and if I listen to the stereo I want to sit down and listen to nothing but the music, having as few distractions as possible.

I listen to music on headphones on the way to and from places. It works well for me, as I work about an album's length away (by bus) from where I live.

both.

How about this: Whenever I'm just hanging out at someone's house, the host almost always puts music on. The less we're acquainted, the more likely s/he is to have music. It's not like we're listening to it, but we can always pretend that we are if there's an awkward lull. Especially in the city, silence seems to make people uncomfortable.

It seems that a huge part of music's role in society is to distract us from our separation from other people, or something like that.

I hardly ever JUST listen to music. Unless I'm smoking pot or falling asleep, I guess.

My time for just listening to records used to be on headphones while falling asleep. I have a hard time getting to sleep, so sometimes it would take 2-3 albums. It's the only thing I really miss about sleeping alone.

On occasion I'll listen to an album without anything else going on. I'll usually have a book or newspaper open for show, but I'll look down around track 5 and realize that I haven't turned the page. Whenever I'm reading, for pleasure or school, writing, doing anything on the computer, or cleaning house, doing dishes I'll have music playing. I've usually got an album on headphones while on public transit, as well.

i actually really enjoy singing along to music while i'm doing the dishes. sometimes i get so into it i do the luxing as well. (vacuuming, hoovering, whatever you people call it) when thats done i put on something dancey and shake it in the lounge. sometimes i just listen, for example if its a new cd and i wanna take it all in, you know, get to know the music intimately. schoolwork plus music = getting nothing done.

Just listening to music implies a very strong sensory experience for me, so it's my ideal. I don't attach a function to music more than my pure appreciation of it, really.

But your life out there in "meatspace" allows you time to do this on a regular basis? Man, where do you live?

watching sports on TV while listening to music usually works since you don't need to hear the inane broadcast chatter anyway (doubly true anytime Bill Walton's in the booth) - of course, alot of the time i end up still focusing so much on the game that the music kind of washes over me, which happens ALOT when I'm listening while on the web (like I'm doing right now), sometimes I'll listen to the same album 2-3 times and still have no real idea how good it was (like I'm doing right now with Cut Copy).

i pretty much comandeer music listening at work, it has to be at a reasonable volume much like Milton in Office Space, and obv. I try to steer clear of shit that would put my co-workers off (no Wolf Eyes, no Lil Jon). my best listening is done in the car of course, but barring that I'll just put on the headphones and listen while taking notes if I have to write a review.

i dont ever sit around listening to music. but its on, all the time. its my coping mechanism. especially at work.

Sometimes I try to listen to music while I'm doing other things.

Frequently I discover that I've unconsciously stopped doing the other things and ended up just listening.

I love Nick's "music room" idea: my living room used to be just that (I didn't even have a TV in it for many years) until my girlfriend, her daughter and three cats moved in and it somehow became just a normal(-ish) living room.

I'm hoping to get a separate "music room" again next time we move.

I distinctly remember Eno saying something about inventing ambient because "nobody sits there anymore like the guy in the diagram with the little head perfectly placed to form a triangle with the two speakers." Which is probably why they chose him to do the W!ndows 95 theme music, in my mind at least.

But man, it would be nice to have one of those music rooms.

Does anyone think method of consumption might affect taste?

How you listen affecting what you enjoy listening to?

I think you sort of make internal adjustments so it's hard to tell. Years ago I would never even have imagined listening to music at work. I thought work was gonna somehow leak in through the headphones and ruin the music, but time constraints being what they are, I've gotten used to it and couldn't tell you what I was missing.

I fucking wish I was still allowed to listen to music at work. Things would just be so much more tolerable.

I try to listen to one new album a day, unencumbered by other activities/noises. Then I listen to stuff I've heard before walking around, doing homework, etc. It's really too bad I can't edit video/film while listening to sounds other than the sync. I am jealous of other visual artists who can listen and paint, listen and sculpt, etc..

xpost:
Man, that is so wrong.

one of my ongoing projects is to give a rating to every song in my itunes library. whenever i have a few spare minutes, i go into my smart playlist of unrated tracks and actively listen to whatever i've accumulated recently.

i have an hour commute so i get to listen to 2 hours a day on headphones doing nothing but looking out the window, perving on girls etc, although sometimes i read a book.

i never get to listen at home, always just on in the background. i used to like sitting in front of the stereo just listening.

i find listening at work impossible. music either distracts me SO much from my work that i don't do any, or it gets so blanked out it might as well not be on. (unless i'm auditioning a piece of music for a particular segment or story, obv)

How you listen definitely affects what you listen to. There are certain records that need to be heard in a specific setting. I love Basic Channel, and I think the main reason for that is that it's that those tracks are the perfect length and quality for my daily commute.

At my last job I could listen to headphones the entire day. My new job does not afford me that luxury, and the kinds of music I listen to have changed greatly. Listening to music while working was the best way to listen to things I hadn't heard before and very well might not like, wheres my choices for play these days are much "safer".

one of my ongoing projects is to give a rating to every song in my itunes library
I'm doing this too!

wow. what kind of rating? just like 4/5...

-songs with 4 and 5 stars go into regular rotation
-songs with 3 stars go into a "not sure yet" folder
-anything below 2 stars gets deleted from itunes

As a child, I rarely focussed on music in the foreground. When became a teen and really got fascinated, became very strict about *no* background music. Listen, dammit! Lucky for me, most of my friends were te same way; even when we listened together, would talk in low voices, and the music would tune a whole roomful of people. But later, as music became as much of a soundtrack as it had in childhood, I could get very tyrannical, vs. the tide:"Shhh! Listen, dammit!" To myself as well as others. Nowadays, no prob. Listening to a local public radio show, "Evening Jazz," right now. If I'm looking for something to review, might slap it on while watching CNN or the Cmedy Channel, daring this auditioning CD to command my attention.("NEXT.") Can listen to these or just about anything that's not too slow or low-volume on the exercycle, which is kinda noisy, even with headphones. But lovin the listenin on the ex.

they should design an exercycle that powers the stereo.

fuck i might just patent that. or one that does the tv. slow down a bit and the picture starts to fade.

yeah, music for that by the Behavior Mods (x biofeedback/feedsack guitarrrr)