Confessions of a music hoarder (part 58,779)

How much music is too much music? I guess the obvious answer is - er, it's the wrong question. That it's a false premise. Because you can't have too much music, right? Yeah, absolutely, that's right. But, anyway, having just watched some American dude on his YouTube channel banging on about why we should all buy CDs (which I do) and not get too hooked on fickle streaming services, I found myself drifting down the YouTube comment thread where dozens of people were saying they agreed with him and that they had large collections of CDs which they'd been buying since the 1980s. I mean, pretty large. One person said they had 4,000 CDs. A few comments later someone said they had 9,000. Blimey, it's all very competitive in the world of obsessive CD purchasing. Of course, moments later I had to check my own CD shelves and do a rough guestimate - about a thousand, I reckon. Which already feels like a lot to me. Then I checked how many saved music files I have on my computer - 58,779. Fuck, man. It's kind of incredible. The volume has snuck up on me - 15 years of obsessive downloading (and a bit of ripping) and there you are - tens of thousands of music files I may or may not ever get around to playing in my lifetime (what's left of it). Throw in a modest number of records and cassettes (quite a few of these actually), as well as hundreds of burnt CDs which I usually forget about (very remiss of me), and I've semi-accidentally amassed ... a lot of music. Yeah, lucky old me. But ... is it all a mistake? Have I let my mania for acquisition get the better of me and forgotten that er, this is supposed to be about liking music not filling up my computer memory or putting up more and more CD shelves in my overcrowded flat? At this point I'm probably supposed to say something like, No, no, not at all! I listen to a wide selection of this music every week, honest. But that wouldn't be true. I'm pretty sure there are hundreds - possibly thousands - of songs and entire albums in my possession that I haven't listened to in years (decades) and plenty I've probably never listened to. Yep, this is my freely-made confession, the confession of an obsessive music hoarder. I'm unrepentant though. The thought that I could - in theory - listen to all sorts of things from a biggish collection of music is all that matters. Except of course I like to think this is mostly good music (not the stuff YOU listen to ...). When I was aged 15-16 I think I had about 20 records (one or two albums and 18 singles, or something like that) and ever since I've probably been reacting to the vague feeling of inadequacy that this instilled. So I say: use your inadequacies for the greater good. In the end I'm not necessarily that impressed by some geezer in the USA who says he has 9,000 CDs. Depends what they are. If it's shelves and shelves of Bruce Springsteen or Aerosmith or countless other MOR-ish artists then it means nothing. But - oh no! - what if it's 9,000 CDs of classic punk, reggae, jazz and the cream of every DIY music scene of the past 50 years? What then ...?  

A woman checks out the Niluccio on noise collection (pic: Denissa Devy)