The Harkive project wants to find out how and why people listen to music – and how the devices, technologies, formats, services and time available combine to create a personal listening experience.
To do this, Harkive asked music fans to document their listening habits on 9 July 2013 and publish the results online through blogs, photos, tweets and so on. Harkive plan to analyse the results and repeat the event each year to map how listening habits change over time.
So, here is my listening diary for 9 July 2013.
08:30
I rarely listen to CDs at home at all though I still do in the car. Most of the time I listen to compilation CDs which came with a magazine. Much as I love (and often rely) on last.fm and Spotify to recommend new artists to me, I still like CDs curated by people who know a scene inside out. For my morning commute to work today, it’s the The Blues Magazine issue 7 CD (standout tracks in bold):
- 16 Tons of Love by Z-Star
- Somebody Else by JJ Grey & Mofro
- Rainbow Bridge by Mike Zito & The Wheel
- Get You Off by Stephen Petit Dale
- Alley Cat by Marcus Bonfanti
- Low Down and Dirty by Walter Trout & His Band
- Catch Me On The Fly by The Graveltones
- 32-400 by Poplar Jake
- Some Other Man Instead by Spin Doctors
- Devil’s Got A Hold On Me by Danny Bryant
- Oh Yer by Long John Laundry
- I Got Sound by Fireroad
- Thunderhead by Austin Young & No Difference
- Lookin’ Back Movin’ On by Steve Summers Band
- Josey by Pearl Handled Revolver
I make a mental note of the tracks I like so I can look up the artists online later today.
13:00
It’s lunchtime and I’m looking up artists I liked the sound of during this morning’s commute, starting with Z-Star. Listened to The Hours via an embedded SoundCloud player in Z-Star’s website:
Image: zstarmusic.com
Next I watch JJ Grey & Mofro’s 99 Shades of Crazy video on YouTube and subscribe to their channel:
Now on to Fireroad’s I Got Sound, easily my favourite track on The Blues Magazine issue 7 CD:
I then click around other videos and channels suggested by YouTube, not looking for any artist in particular, and stumble on Dog Scratched Ear by Henry’s Funeral Shoe – a band I’ve never heard of and now like.
13:50
The UK is experiencing a heatwave so I leave the office and go for a walk in the green University campus, iPhone and headphones donned. Found a nice quiet spot in the sun and watched Midnight Barcelona, a time-lapse video by Pau García Laita set to the instrumental song Starscapes by The American Dollar:
14:15
Back in the office. I work with words (writing, editing or making sense of lots of content) and often use headphones and music (streamed via Spotify) to concentrate. However, I can’t write or research productively while listening to music with lyrics. The music needs to be ambient. So, I switch on my Spotify playlist called “Background music you can ignore while you work”. Today, I listen to Orbital, Underworld, Mozart, Future Sound of London, Lee Scratch Perry, The Orb and Sigur Rós.
I’ve listened to this playlist on random too much and get bored with it quickly so switch to Sigur Rós’ album Valtari. Too much Sigur Rós makes me wistful and weepy though (not ideal in an open plan office!) so I stop listening after the one album and go looking for something else.
The recently updated ‘Discover’ screen in Spotify recommends artists you might like based on your listening history. The recommendation algorithm isn’t quite accurate yet so you do get some comic recommendations, like this pair:
Twee-indie pixies She & Him bear no resemblance musically or artistically to upcoming blues singer/guitarist ace Gary Clarke Jr. but I quite like this random recommendation and listen to Volume 3 anyway. It’s very nice and seems apt for this quiet, sunny afternoon.
6:00
The drive home from work is always a battle through two congested Midlands motorways and a busy high street in central Birmingham so I really need to be alert. This means a soundtrack in the car that’s more upbeat and rockier than today’s previous sounds. I connect my iPhone via bluetooth to the in-car Ford Audio (app/facility?) and hit shuffle. Track list:
- Ain’t Nothing But A House Party by The Showstoppers
- Harry, Turn The Music Up by Otis Taylor
- Hells Bells by AC/DC
- Hands On Your Stomach by Otis Taylor
- Hard To Handle by The Black Crowes
- Somebody To Love by Jefferson Airplane
- Back in Black by AC/DC
It seems odd that two artists appear twice from a shuffled 16GB music library so I guess there are some other factors at work here.
20:00
Drive to my friend Alistair’s house to restring a guitar and do some songwriting. I want to hear Fireroad’s I Got Sound up loud again after hearing it for the first time this morning so I put The Blues Magazine CD back on in the car.
