Joel Hill wrote:

>How do these people have time to become familiar with all this music
>that evidently is often gathered in the space of a very few years???

It's not hard to do.  As an example, a few minutes ago the Fed-EX
or UPS truck drove up to my door and the driver had me sign for four
sets of music: Schumann's Das Paradies conducted by Gardiner on Archiv,
Beethoven's cello sonatas performed by Bylsma/Immerseel on Sony, Handel's
Rodrigo conducted by Curtis on Virgin, and the Shostakovich opus 87
Preludes and Fugues performed by Ashkenazy on Decca (it's coming, Ulvi).
I'll be intimately familiar with one set by the end of the day and all
four in about two weeks.  No problem.

>I listen to music in the car, all day at work, and while on the computer at
>home and still don't make a sizeable dent in my collection.

Sounds like marathon listening!  But, each of Joel's examples involves less
than concentrated listening.  You have to concentrate on driving, working,
and computer activity.

I think that the math is not on Joel's side.  Here's a typical scenario for
a frequent buyer: get an average of one disc per day, and listen to your
music selections, without any interruptions or distractions, at least 5
hours a day.  That allows one to listen fully to the new disc and, say,
3 other cds per day.  That does, on a continuous basis, make sizeable
dents.  I emphasize that the exact time spent listening is not the crucial
determining factor; it's the total time spent in full concentration of the
music.

Having said the above, it does happen that a new disc will "get lost", so
to speak, and I find it a few months later.  It doesn't happen often, but
it is one of the hazards of frequent buying.

Don Satz
[log in to unmask]