White Noise

There was a time when people actually listened to music. In those days, listening to the radio was an activity. We've all seen black and white photographs of familes gathered around the console radio, listening to Tommy Dorsey or Duke Ellington or Benny Goodman. Music was special, a privilege, and people treated it as such by giving it their complete attention.

Those days are long past. Music is no longer an activity, but rather a suplement to our other activities. We "listen" to music while we eat. Or while we study. They now make iPod armbands so we can "listen" to music in the gym, and waterproof radios so we can "listen" to music in the shower. We might "listen" to music because it helps us concentrate. We might "listen" to music just because we can't stand silence. The fact is that nowadays we "listen" to music for practically every reason except for the sake of listening itself.

The post-modern craving for efficiency is clearly the source of this trend. We want to do lots of things at once, so we get our music to go, and we don't want to be distracted by annoyances such as other people, so we block them out with earphones. We apparently want a greater quantity of life. Well that's obviously impossible, as everyone gets the same twenty-four hours in a day. But we still try to get more out of life, and in doing so sacrifice the quality of our life. For example, you could cook a microwave dinner and have it in two minutes - very efficient - but you would be left with a mediocre dinner. The same principle applies to music. The more efficient we make our "listening" - by combining it with other activities and so on - the less we will enjoy it. 

Music has much to offer, but not if we limit our "listening" to the gym and the shower. Perhaps post-modern listeners will learn to prefer quality over quantity, enjoyment over efficiency, and - as in the good old days - make listening an activity.