How does one (grow) as a music listener/lover?


Passion for music has to be first and foremost.

I, like many of you have had my greatest experiences and (new) musical experiences, solely because of my home audio system. If not for this "passion", then my acting on that passion in the form of a qualilty home music reproduction system, I would have never enjoyed the music I was always fond of, but maybe, more importantly, music I was now willing to discover. I believe this maybe the most important aspect, for me..this, newfound, willingness to discover music I never would have even given much of a thought to............



 
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Live music ( is better bumper stickers should be issued)
make your own recordings
make friends with people who listen to stuff you don’t ( yet)
mix sound for a band
wander the halls at prep school, borrow strange LP’s
take a music appreciation and then theory class
read books about music ( David Byrnes is great)
stream to dip your toe in
keep a list of stuff others like
see streaming to taste, 3+ million albums on Tidal
ask people for top 20 lists
see the thread here what’s in your CD player tonite
haunt the thrift shops, anything looks good At $.99
read the music lists for best of 20xx and of course peruse the mainline audio rags for music reviews
go to the pre concert lectures.


What a wonderful question! I don't think there are right or wrong answers to it. Mentioned by others was the benefit of having a subscription to a concert series; for me that would be season tickets to the symphony, and I do think that is very important. However, that does limit you in terms of genre. For that reason, I think even higher on the list would be to keep company with others who love music and to listen together, sharing your favorites with each other. Whenever I have the opportunity to listen deliberately with others, I inevitably discover something I had never heard before which I then seek out and add to my own collection.
This is fun. I have learned a lot about new/different music just perusing the music section of the forum here. Obviously with suggestions coming from fellow audio enthusiasts it has led to some interesting discoveries.