I read an article recently from a dude who advocated ignoring whatever is current and on the charts, and simply coming up with your own Top Ten songs du jour. It’s not all that far from what I do minus putting a number on it. Why limit yourself to just ten when there are millions to choose from? But it did make me think of my own consumption and collecting, albeit digitally, and I began to realize I am absolutely overloaded with too much music and not nearly enough time.

Yes, I’m part of the problem, since I enjoy writing about new releases, and artists who aren’t famous but nevertheless fabulous, and those lost or forgotten recordings. For me the biggest thorn in my side is the algorithms used by the streaming sites to make suggestions. And the more you use them, the more they are able to include what they think you’ll like and exclude what you might not.

Although it’s an imperfect system, it’s also very good at getting me stuck in a rabbit hole the size of the Grand Canyon. You find a song by one musician that you like, and add their album to your playlist. You also see they have five previous releases, so you add them too. One song of interest becomes fifty in a flash. And because you like them, there are now a dozen other things recommended. Endless.

I have a playlist where I place things – new or old – that I haven’t yet heard. It used to hover between 250-500 songs and not it’s over 3000. There in no way I can get into checking out each and every one, and no time to listen to the older music in my library that I’ve loved over the decades.

I’m drowning in a sea of music and it’s becoming work versus pleasure. There could be a sense of urgency here…advanced expiration date…and I’m fearful I won’t get to listen to all the things I’ve collected over the years along with the new things I’ve yet to discover.

Some might say it’s a first world problem, having too much access. And it’s true that after re-reading this section it’s pretty insensitive to even think about “my music problem” considering all the other gruesome things happening around the world.

So if you got this far – just disregard it please.