Does the ability to carry thousands of songs in our pocket make our music tastes more sophisticated?

Question

If not, will it, over time?

Answer 1

I don't yet have a MP3 player, so I'm going to be mildly off topic. There is a website - Pandora.com, which is part of a music genome project. You type in an artist or song, and it finds songs that have similar characteristics. I listen to it at work. It's amazing how the selection can mutate! I've found music I love that I never knew existed. And of course, they have links to the songs on iTunes.

Also, I love you Stephen.

Answer 2

I think I had a pretty sophisticated taste in music WAY before we had the ability to carry thousands of songs in our pockets. I listen to everything from classical guitar to trance, old country to pop, etc. And I STILL don't carry it around in my pocket.

Answer 3

Why in the world would it? And what is sophisticated in this case? If it's a taste for refined, classical music - even a few musical pieces are enough... Quantity definitely does not equal quality when it comes to music. And why should we carry music with us anyway? I like silence!

Answer 4

No its just convience really. Because a lot of people say they like the same thing. Or some say they say they like 'all music' which isnt true. I like a little bit of everything, but not all of anything.
Ripping the song says you just want the music, but you dont care about the artist or the hard work they went into making it.

It makes us more dead to the world because we just tune ourselves out. It makes us less aware of whats going on too. It means you'll probably not enjoy the same song you hear next time it comes on the radio as much. ;)

Answer 5

It is still a question of "I like what I know!" If people listen to the same old stuff all the time they won't get more sophisticated tastes.

Answer 6

It could...I know that since I've gotten my iPod, my music tastes have gotten way wider (I listen to more than just rock and pop now; but technically, I don't know the genre of half of what I listen to). On the other hand, some of my friends who only listen to emo and country haven't changed their tastes one bit since getting mp3 players. It probably depends a bit on the person who is carrying the thousands of songs, and what kind of person they are: are they open to change, etc.

Answer 7

pssht no. people listen to what they want to listen to. whether its on an ipod or on a cassette tape or on a 45 record. if you dont want to be openminded about music then the use of an mp3 player isn't going to make you be more so. and if you already are openminded about music then you would probably be that way regardless of how you store your music. it's just a convience thing. obviously a lot of people fill up their mp3 players with mainstream junk anyway, hence why its 'mainstream.' people that are gonna seek out more sophisticated music - (whether you think sophisticated means 'oldschool,' 'underground,' 'modern,' ' foriegn' or whatev) - are capable of doing it without an mp3 player. thats why we have shows and everything.

Answer 8

I don't think so. For me, I keep going back to the same music I've always liked. I'm much more exposed to other music, and I can enjoy it for a period of time, but eventually the few albums I first put on my ipod are what I keep going back to.

Answer 9

I don't think so, I have hundreds of cd's and tapes.. and albums, but I seem to always listen to a few of the same ones. Kind of like having 500 channels on the TV.. but I only watch about 4 of them.
:)

Answer 10

good question, hmm, I d say no.
Music is now so available and common place that people become used to it, and dont really "experience" music anymore, its more like background music for them. I see it all the time in public transportation. multi tasking and whatnot.