Music Consumption 2014

Ten years of data! I'm still buying plenty of CDs (better audio quality than downloads), but thanks to on-demand streaming (Google Play All Access, $9.99/month), I do a lot more "try before you buy" before committing. As a result, my actual CD purchases are falling, although once you add in the cost of subscription access, it works out to a very similar annual cash outlay. And this year, nearly all my album downloads were "high rez" recordings from HDTracks. Still not entirely convinced that "hi rez" audio is worth it, the launch of Neil Young's Pono hi-rez portable player notwithstanding.

2014 was a great year live music year for me. Forty-four live shows (counting each day of multi-festivals as one show) ties 2005 for most live music in a calendar year. Lots of classical music (6), a bit of jazz (4). Without a doubt, seeing Kate Bush in London was the highlight, followed by King Crimson. Prince a distant third. Kate Bush may be the musical highlight of my entire decade.

Probably the biggest shift in music listening for me this year was the shift to my phone, in place of the iPod (although the iPod is still very handy on long plane flights). And, as is a chronic problem as I get older, just finding the time to really sit and listen for hours at a time. As always, stretches of uninterrupted musical leisure time are the greatest luxury of all.

CDs purchased: Digital album downloads: CDs from LaLa swaps: Digital singles downloaded: Live shows attended:

04 86 - - 50 30

05 76 - - 38 26

06 50 44 69 63 36

07 64 70 28 22 35

08 62 65 11 38 44

09 101 50 7 60 35

10 59 12 - 22 35

11 73 13 - 58 36

12 48 12 - 37 28

13 58 11 - 28 32

14 37 12 - 39 44