Educated Guesswork

Just listened to my 102,000th unique iTunes track, John Cale’s “Fairweather Friend” from his 1970 album Vintage Violence.

102,000 unique tracks comprises 731.52 GB of data, with a total duration of 332 days, 10 hours, 24 minutes, and 27 seconds (ignoring multiple plays). My iTunes collection still has 88,046 items left unplayed — 713 more tracks than the last milestone, for a net gain of 1713 tracks. The unplayed tracks take up 654.48 GB of data (↓ 1.1GB – a drastic decline in the decline) with a playing time of 434 days, 11 hours, 25 minutes, and 12 seconds (↓ 6 days).

The delta between played total time of tracks vs. unplayed time (my primary concern at the moment; see my latest post) comes in at a deficit just over 101 days.

To add another 1,000 tracks to my grand total, 1,083 tracks were played.

More detailed analysis to come, and I still need to put the entire first 100K under the microscope.

Once again, data about the last 1,000 (one thousand plus; see below) songs I listened to, which brought my total number of iTunes tracks heard up to 101,000.

Purview

We consider the songs heard since I hit one hundred thousand up through those which brought my total up to 101,000. Due to a new methodology, this made up more than 1,000 tracks — specifically, 1,043 items. These pieces were played through iTunes from June 9th to September 6, 2017.

New Methodology

The Problem

One issue I’ve alluded to before is the fact that as I’ve listened to each new thousand tracks, more than 1,000 tracks may be heard. This is because any song previously listened to which is heard again doesn’t contribute to the number of unique songs heard, but does add to the total number of tracks played over a given period of time. Additionally, any such old song heard may ‘push out’ a newly played track from a given set of the ‘last X’ of songs.

For example, if I’ve listened to 45 songs, and want to consider the last five songs listened to when I hit 50 unique tracks, I can envision the songs 41 through 45 thusly:

I then listen to four more brand new songs, bringing the total number of unique tracks up to 49.

At this point I listen to “Song A” again, which had previously been #41 — maybe I’m listening to my music on Random play, maybe I just like “Song A”.

But now “Song A” is #49 in my recently played accounting (it isn’t #50 because this song has been heard before, so doesn’t add to the total, just displaces previous ordering), and “Song E” becomes #44, though it had been #45 before. Thus when an entirely new song — “Song J” — is heard, if we only consider the most recent 5 tracks played bringing the total up to fifty, “Song F” is ignored, as this track which was once #46 is now #45.

Thus the “last x” songs may ignore newly played songs when previously played songs are heard again.

The Solution

To give a complete view of the most recently played tracks, therefore, we will consider the entirety of songs played since the last song mentioned in the previous review. We may end up looking at tracks we’ve seen before, but we will also have a more complete picture of the actual sounds heard through iTunes during the most recent addition of one thousand new tracks to the complete set of heard files.

New Problems

This new methodology means that the various percentages obtained are no longer immediately obvious from the absolute numbers involved. We must also consider whether to examine statistics for just the new songs or for the entire set. This we shall do on a case-by-case basis.

Overview

Given this new methodology, the first thing to be noted is that we shall consider 1,043 songs, as this is the number of tracks heard since the one hundred thousandth was played until 101,000 songs were played.

1,043 Songs Played

Of these 1,043 songs, 1,024 were heard for the first time.

We can no longer speak of “changes” to the conditions of my material life, as these changes now appear to have semi-permanent status. We will therefore not speak of these again. However, the effects of this unspoken continue unabated, and once again Radio Shows make up the plurality of the 1,000+ songs, although they do not preponderate this time: Almost 39% of all tracks played are Radio Shows.

38.93% of all tracks played were Radio Shows

To repeat, these 1,043 tracks were played between June 9th and September 6, 2017, a total of 89 days. Thus not quite 12 songs were played per day.

11.7 Songs played per Day

The total amount of time taken to play these 1k+ songs was 19 days, 19 hours, 52 minutes, and 45 seconds.

Total Time of Tracks: 19 Days, 19 Hours, 52 Minutes, and 45 Seconds

Since these songs were played over a stretch of 89 days, and given the total length of time of all played tracks above, this means that over 22% of this 89-day period was spent listening to iTunes in one way or another. This is a substantial reduction in the time per day listening to music, which corresponds to a substantial reduction in the material conditions of my life. (Darn, I wasn’t going to mention that….)

22.3% of Each Day spent listening to iTunes

or

5 hours, 20.8 minutes per day Listening to Stuff

Details

Genres

The data shows the prevalence of Radio Shows in my recent listening. Here is a chart, broken down by genre, showing what was included in these one thousand tracks:

And here is a table showing those genres which each provided over 1% of the total number of tracks played:

Songs Played by Genre

Radio Show	406	38.9%
Rock	167	16%
SubGenius	60	5.75%
Classical	55	5.27%
Pop	41	3.93%
History	39	3.74%
Jazz	30	2.88%
Spoken & Audio	30	2.88%
World	24	2.30%
Gospel & Religioius	21	2.01%
Alternative	16	1.53%
Folk	16	1.53%
R&B	16	1.53%
Electronica/Dance	15	1.44%
Other	15	1.44%
Latin	14	1.34%
Novelty	14	1.34%
Punk	14	1.34%
Hip Hop/Rap	13	1.25%
Country	12	1.15%

All the rest of tracks played make up 2.4% of the total.

But once again the prevalence of Radio Shows is even greater than shown by this first view, since the average radio show is longer than most popular songs. If we inspect the tracks played with respect to their duration we discover that the Radio Show genre actually makes up just under 3/4 of the total.

74.17% of Listening Time devoted to Radio Shows

Here’s the chart:

And here’s the table of those genres contributing over 1% of the total time played:

Genre of Tracks Played by Time

Radio Show	74.17%	14d 16h 57m 4s
SubGenius	11.71%	2d 7h 43m 39s
History	3.73%	17h 46m 7s
Rock	2.57%	12h 14m 43s
Spoken & Audio	2.48%	11h 48m 13s
Gospel & Religious	1.20%	5h 43m 36s

Technically speaking, the SubGenius genre could be folded in with the Radio Shows, as this genre comprises for the most part the early broadcasts of The Hour of Slack, back when these aired over KNON in Dallas, Texas. (Now, of course, the church uses podcasts to spread its message, such as it is. (Although a 21st-century re-devival may be inaugurated if the new SubGenius documentary Slacking Towards Bethlehem reaches its Kickstarter goal. (Pledge now!))) If this were done, the total time for Radio Shows would rise to just under 86%, and the number of tracks would be 44.65%. I’m keeping these separate, however.

Both genres, however, averaged over fifty minutes per cut, which led to an average length for played tracks of twenty-seven minutes and twenty-three seconds. This represents a small decline in the average from the last thousand tracks, being a minute and one second less.

Average length of played tracks: 27:22.5

The longest tracks were much longer this time around, even though the total average was similar. The longest average belonged to the SubGenius shows, just below an hour at fifty-five minutes and forty-four seconds (55:43.7). Radio shows had the next longest average, at fifty-two minutes and ten seconds (52:09.6). Three other Genres averaged over ten minutes: History (27:20.2), Spoken & Audio (23:36.4), and Gospel & Religious (16:21.7 — this genre averaged so high because I listened to some the lengthiest suras from The Holy Quran).

Average Length of Tracks by Genre

SubGenius	(60 tracks)	55:43.7
Radio Show	(406 tracks)	52:09.6
History	(39 tracks)	27:20.2
Spoken & Audio	(30 tracks)	23:36.4
Gospel & Religious	(21 tracks)	16:21.7
Electronica/Dance	(15 tracks)	6:12.3
Country	(12 tracks)	4:56.4
Folk	(16 tracks)	4:54
Rock	(167 tracks)	4:24.0
Jazz	(30 tracks)	4:18.8
R&B	(16 tracks)	4:11.3
Alternative	(16 tracks)	4:10.4
Latin	(14 tracks)	3:56.6
Hip Hop/Rap	(13 tracks)	3:50.8
World	(24 tracks)	3:44.7
Pop	(41 tracks)	3:26.6
Classical	(55 tracks)	3:14.1
Punk	(14 tracks)	2:50.2
Other	(15 tracks)	2:44.8
Novelty	(14 tracks)	2:28

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the short average for the Classical genre, which one thinks of as having longer movements.

Albums

Once again the Radio Show ‘albums’ contribute a large number of the tracks, and the major contributor from the last thousand supplied even more this time around. This was the Lux Radio Theatre, which provided nearly two hundred tracks (196). Besides the SubGenius Hour of Slack, another non-radio album gave over forty tracks to the cause, James Kibble’s rendition of Bach‘s Chorale Preludes for organ. In all, 9 albums had ten or more tracks played, and those 9 accounted for 443 (of 1043) tracks played.

9 albums provided 443 tracks (42.5%)

Rounding out the 9 albums mentioned above, two more non-radio albums appear, a 1988 Frost Amphitheatre show by Jerry Garcia, and a mediocre Christian Rock album — which went double platinum and was the 4th best selling Christian album of the 2000s — Almost There by MercyMe.

Lux Radio Theatre	196 tracks
Hour of Slack	54
Sears Radio Theater	53
NBC University Theater	46
Bach Organ Works – Individual Chorale Preludes	41
The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater	16
CBS Radio Mystery Theater	14
1988-07-09 – Frost Amphitheatre	13
Almost There	10

Artists

Except those shows and musicians mentioned earlier, only one artist breaks into the most played list with more than ten tracks — Columbia recording artist, Bob Dylan. He appears 29 times.

Songs

Almost the entirety of these 1,043 tracks were played for the first time. Only 19 songs had been played more than once, for a total of 61 plays. Of these, Led Zeppelin’s “The Rain Song” and The Honeydrippers’s cover of “Sea of Love” have been played the most, with both tracks racking up eight plays apiece.

Only three other songs among these with repeated plays were played more than twice: “The Blues Are Still Blue” by Belle & Sebastian and the Star Trek theme with Shatner’s voiceover auf Deutsch (both played 7 times), and the chant of a Pokot witch doctor from the album Kenya & Tanzania: Witchcraft & Ritual Music (played thrice).

The shortest track was only 8 seconds long, an Hour of Slack intro created by Mr. F. Le Mur. The longest track lasted two hours, thirty minutes and forty-six seconds; this was “Face of the Foe”, a week-long radio drama, from the series Zero Hour hosted by Rod Serling, which originally aired in 1973. The song closest to the average length (the median) was “The Lily of St Pierre” from the 1940’s radio program The Damon Runyon Theatre which clocks in at twenty-seven minutes and nineteen seconds.

Review

The average rating for all 1,000+ tracks was 3-1/2 stars. Once again, this is lower than usual for my rated items.

One of the reasons for the lengthier tracks in this last set of songs is my desire to make up for the deficit in tracks played by total time. I had achieved the goal of having played half of my iTunes collection whether looked at from number of tracks, total time of all songs, or amount of data occupied by all of the files. With the introduction of a significant set of radio shows into my collection, I no longer can claim to have listened to half my collection — at least not in terms of total time of all tracks (I have still heard more than half the tracks by total number and total file size). Though almost twenty days of iTunes were listened to in this last 1000+, only sixteen days (and ten hours) were gained towards the halfway point, due to additions to my collection since the last report. At the time of the 101,000th song play, the differential between played and unplayed tracks amounted to 120 days, 5 hours, 11 minutes, 37 seconds (321 days, 9 hours, 15 minutes, and 56 seconds [played] vs. 441 days, 4 hours, 4 minutes, and 19 seconds [unplayed]). If no other tracks are added or deleted (which is already not true), I’d need to listen to just half this amount to reach the halfway point. Thus:

60 days, 2-1/2 hours of listening to reach the halfway point

Besides the radio shows I’ve previously named as worth checking out, I’d like to add Stand By For Crime. (Trigger Warning: blatant sexism)

Another radio show which deserves your especial attention is Freedom, U.S.A., which follows Senator Dean Edwards (played by Tyrone Power) as he defends the U.S. Constitution, ferrets out mal- and misfeasance, and protects freedom — not just in the good ol’ U.S. of A., but around the entire world. The program is an audible, laudable civics lesson, hearkening back to an earlier age when words had meanings and communication was still possible.*

*But see Rebecca West’s “There Is No Conversation” for a contrasting viewpoint (several, in fact).

(Now standard procrastinatory disclaimer paragraph)

I still hope to make an analysis of the full set of my first 100,000 songs. But I do not doubt that …. Blah, blah, blah, blah….

Here is another 10% sample of these last one thousand songs:

Every Tenth Track of One Thousand (plus!) Tracks

#†	Artist	Name	Album	Date	Time	Genre
-40		“Pokot Witch Doctor”	Kenya & Tanzania: Witchcraft & Ritual Music	1975	3:09	Folk
-30	Frank Lovejoy	“Zero”	Night Beat	2/6/50	30:23	Radio Show
-20	Ray Bourbon	“Strong, Solid, Sensational”	Top 50 Classics – The Very Best of Ray Bourbon	2015	3:19	Novelty
-10	Space Patrol	“Revenge of Dr Yeager”	Space Patrol	2/13/54	28:48	Radio Show
0	Words At War	“Apartment In Athens”	Words At War	4/10/45	28:19	Radio Show
10	John Dehner	“Heyboy’s Revenge”	Have Gun, Will Travel	3/1/59	25:04	Radio Show
20	Space Patrol	“The Tattooed Atom”	Space Patrol	6/12/54	29:15	Radio Show
30	Bette Grable & Dan Dailey	“Mother Wore Tights”	Lux Radio Theatre	11/14/49	58:15	Radio Show
40	Judy Garland & Hans Conried	“The Wizard of Oz”	Lux Radio Theatre	12/25/50	59:46	Radio Show
50	Barry Fitzgerald	“Top O’ the Morning”	Lux Radio Theatre	3/17/52	58:33	Radio Show
60	Olivia de Haviland	“The Heiress”	Lux Radio Theatre	9/11/50	52:25	Radio Show
70	Church of the SubGenius	“Hour of Slack #342 – Will O’ Dobbs filling in for Stang”	Hour of Slack	1992	1:02:01	SubGenius
80	Sears Radio Theater	“Hizzoner Hamlet”	Sears Radio Theater	4/17/79	51:05	Radio Show
90	NBC University Theater	“The Ides Of March”	NBC University Theater	1/15/50	59:28	Radio Show
100	artist	“track”	album		1:17:07	Spoken & Audio
110	Joseph Cotten	“The Steel Trap” [AFRS]	Lux Radio Theatre	9/14/53	57:15	Radio Show
120	CBS Radio Mystery Theater	“No Hiding Place”	CBS Radio Mystery Theater	1/10/74	51:24	Radio Show
130	Jeanne Crain & William Holden	“Apartment for Peggy”	Lux Radio Theatre	2/28/49	55:14	Radio Show
140	Bobby Driscoll	“Peter Pan”	Lux Radio Theatre	12/21/53	50:28	Radio Show
150	Dana Andrews & Steve Forrest	“One Foot in Heaven” [AFRS]	Lux Radio Theatre	7/27/53	55:11	Radio Show
160		“History of Border Radio – Part 1”	History Of Border Radio		49:47	Spoken & Audio
170	Lucille Ball	“The Dark Corner”	Lux Radio Theatre	11/10/47	59:21	Radio Show
180	Ray Milland	“It Happens Every Spring”	Lux Radio Theatre	10/3/49	58:36	Radio Show
190	Church of the SubGenius	“Hour of Slack #356”	Hour of Slack	1992	1:03:07	SubGenius
200	Virginia Mayo & John Lund	“The Iron Mistress”	Lux Radio Theatre	12/28/54	54:14	Radio Show
210	Humphrey Bogart & Walter Huston	“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”	Lux Radio Theatre	4/18/49	59:48	Radio Show
220	NBC University Theater	“Tono Bungary”	NBC University Theater	3/5/50	59:31	Radio Show
230	John Hodiak	“Somewhere in the Night” [AFRS]	Lux Radio Theatre	3/3/47	49:38	Radio Show
240	Tyrone Power	“Immigration Bill”	Freedom, U.S.A.	1/27/53	47:09	Radio Show
250	Roddy McDowall & Preston Foster	“Thunderhead, Son of Flicka”	Lux Radio Theatre	2/25/46	59:02	Radio Show
260	Jane Wyman	“Devotion” [AFRS]	Lux Radio Theatre	2/17/47	50:12	Radio Show
270	Ray Milland & Dorothy McGuire	“The Winslow Boy”	Lux Radio Theatre	1/18/54	56:00	Radio Show
280	Wallace Beery & Margaret O’Brien	“Bad Bascombe”	Lux Radio Theatre	3/1/48	56:39	Radio Show
290		“John Kennedy Assassination (Part 3)”	News 1963	11/22/1963	48:36	History
300	Joan Fontaine & Vincent Price	“Frenchmen’s Creek” [AFRS]	Lux Radio Theatre	2/10/47	56:03	Radio Show
310	Robert Young & Dorothy McGuire	“The Enchanted Cottage” [rehearsal]	Lux Radio Theatre	9/3/45	59:34	Radio Show
320	Edward G. Robinson & Claire Trevor	“Key Largo”	Lux Radio Theatre	11/28/49	59:54	Radio Show
330	Sears Radio Theater	“Vienna Three and Four”	Sears Radio Theater	7/6/79	40:07	Radio Show
340	Sears Radio Theater	“Milwaukee Deep”	Sears Radio Theater	5/11/79	50:38	Radio Show
350	Jerry Garcia Band	“Little Sadie”	1988-07-09 – Frost Amphitheatre	1988	6:20	Rock
360	Rhythm Future Quartet	“Ornithology”	Jim’s New Songs for 2016		4:29	Jazz
370	Lord Haw Haw William Joyce	“Germany Calling – Russo-Finnish War Concluded 4/13/1940”	News 1940	1940	13:02	History
380	The Dream Syndicate	“When You Smile”	1984-12-16 – Tokyo, Shibuya Kokaido – Live Tokyo 1984		6:32	Rock
390	MercyMe	“House Of God”	Almost There	2001	3:13	Gospel & Religious
400	Maxine Weldon	“Lend Me Your Life”	Alone On My Own	1975	2:29	R&B
410	Hank Williams	[complete show]	1952-07-13 – West Grove, PA, Sunset Grove	1952	28:37	Country
420	Joan Caufield	“Dear Ruth”	Lux Radio Theatre	4/26/48	58:12	Radio Show
430	Shock	“No Se Puede Ser Superman”	Andergraun Vibrations! Spanish Hard Psych and Beyond 1970/1975		2:44	Rock
440	The Bevis Frond	“Somewhere Else”	Any Gas Faster	1990	3:08	Rock
450	Cab Calloway	“What’s Buzzin’ Cousin”	Archive.org Collection: Cab Calloway		2:40	Jazz
460	Lawrence Walker	“Mamou Two Step”	As Good As It Gets – Cajun		2:26	Folk
470	James Kibbie	“Liebster Jesu, wir sind hier” BWV706	Bach Organ Works – Individual Chorale Preludes		2:22	Classical
480	James Kibbie	“Christ lag in Todes Banden” BWV718	Bach Organ Works – Individual Chorale Preludes		4:40	Classical
490	James Kibbie	“Vater unser im Himmelreich” BWV737	Bach Organ Works – Individual Chorale Preludes		2:05	Classical
500	James Kibbie	“Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott, Schöpfer” BWV765	Bach Organ Works – Individual Chorale Preludes		2:41	Classical
510	Control Machete	“De Perros Amores”	Amores Perros (Soundtrack from the Motion Picture)	2000	3:53	Rock
520	The Barry Gray Orchestra	“Captain Scarlet”	The Avengers & Other Top Sixties TV Themes	1967	1:51	Soundtrack
530	Superlitio	“Santos Sapos Saltarines”	Marciana	1999	2:51	Rock
540	Bethany Dillon	“All I Need”	Bethany Dillon	2004	3:15	Gospel & Religious
550	Nick Lowe	“Poor Side Of Town”	The Convincer	2001	3:51	Rock
560		“Track 09”			2:11	Other
570	The Band	“Long Ways To Tennessee”	Tombstone: The Lost Album		3:38	Rock
580		“General Construction”	133 Authentic Sound Effects		0:36	Other
590	Peggy, Barbara, & Penny Seeger	“It’s A Lie”	The Three Sisters	1956	1:41	Folk
600	Urge Overkill	“View Of The Rain”	Exit The Dragon	1995	4:42	Rock
610	The Skip Rats	“I’m Ready If You’re Willing”	Music To My Ears	1995	2:24	Rock
620	Bob Hall	“Purely for Pleasure”	The Green Hornet	12/12/44	29:19	Radio Show
630	The Crystal Method	“Bound Too Long”	Legion of Boom	2003	6:23	Electronica/Dance
640	Thin Lizzy	“The Boys Are Back In Town”	Dedication – The Very Best of Thin Lizzy	1991	4:29	Rock
650	Sears Radio Theater	“The Joke Is on Guess Who”	Sears Radio Theater	7/18/79	40:58	Radio Show
660	Church of the SubGenius	“Hour of Slack #150 – SubGenius 101 Introductory Show”	Hour of Slack	1988	58:32	SubGenius
670	Ronald Colman & Maureen O’Sullivan	“Berkeley Square”	Lux Radio Theatre	12/18/44	59:38	Radio Show
680	The Beastie Boys	“Sure Shot”	Ill Communication		3:19	Hip Hop/Rap
690	Frank Crumit	“One Little Raindrop”	Top 100 Classics – The Very Best of Frank Crumit	2015	2:31	Pop
700	The Grateful Dead	“Promised Land”	1973-02-09 – Maples Pavilion [my tape]	1972	3:06	Rock
710	Victor Moore	“It Happened on Fifth Avenue” [AFRS]	Lux Radio Theatre	5/19/47	50:23	Radio Show
720	Gigaboy	“Locoz (Debraye Version)”	Stereo-Sonico [csr062]	2005	3:19	Electronica/Dance
730	Pegboy	“My Youth”	Three-Chord Monte		2:43	Punk
740	The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater	“The Last of the Mohicans”	The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater	4/9/77	39:43	Radio Show
750	The Ramones	“I’m Not An Answer”	Too Tough To Die		2:16	Punk
760	CBS	“CBS World News Today 8/12/1945”	News 1945	1945	25:10	History
770	Bob Peck	“Sweet Sixteen”	Songs That Never Made The Hymnal	1955	2:03	Novelty
780	Jethro Tull	“Cross-eyed Mary”	Bursting Out	1978	3:56	Rock
790		“School Bell or Town Crier Bell”	133 Authentic Sound Effects		0:25	Other
800	Dr. Feelgood	“I’m a Man”	Stupidity	1976	5:10	R&B
810	Mr. F. Le Mur	“HOS Intro #808 – A Place Of Ivan”	13013 – HOS Intros	1953	0:21	SubGenius
820	Joan Blondell & Paul Lukas	“Deadline at Dawn”	Lux Radio Theatre	5/20/46	57:33	Radio Show
830	Ilegales	“Sigan bailando”	Ilegales	1995	4:32	Latin
840	Pablo Casals & Nikolai Mednikoff	“Nocturne in E-Flat, Op. 9, No. 2”	The Early Recordings 1925-1928	1972	4:37	Classical
850	Dorothy McGuire	“Mother Didn’t Tell Me” [AFRS]	Lux Radio Theatre	11/16/54	53:15	Radio Show
860	Lil’ Markie	“Medley: B-O-R-N A-G-A-I-N/For God So Loved The World”	Music To Serve The Lord By		2:26	Gospel & Religious
870		“Battle of Midway Island 6/7/1942”	News 1942	1942	20:12	History
880	Toots & The Maytals	“Funky Kingston”	Reggae Greats	1997	3:30	World
890	Rex Harrison & Irene Dunne	“Anna and the King of Siam”	Lux Radio Theatre	1/20/47	57:47	Radio Show
900	Kyle Jason	“Leave This World”	SLAMJamz Records		2:22	Hip Hop/Rap
910	Johann Sebastian Bach	“Brandenburg Concertos No. 5 in D major (Allegro)” BWV1050	Golden Classics – Bach: Brandenburg Concertos	1992	5:39	Classical
920	Joni Mitchell	“Big Yellow Taxi”	Ladies of the Canyon	1970	2:14	Pop
930	CBS Radio Mystery Theater	“Honeymoon With Death”	CBS Radio Mystery Theater	1/11/74	44:31	Radio Show
940	Chocolate Milk	“Girl Callin'”	We’re All in This Together		5:30	R&B
950	Powder Monkeys	“Ugly”	Smashed On A Knee	1993	3:59	Punk
960	Radio Birdman	“American Ruse”	Rock’n’Roll War		2:42	Rock
970		“Hoot Owl (cont.)”	133 Authentic Sound Effects		0:11	Other
980	Booker T. & The MG’s	“Can’t Be Still”	Best of Booker T. and The MG’s	1989	2:00	Rock
990	Dick Robertson	“We Did It Before (And We Can Do It Again)”	Decca 4117	1941	2:28	Pop
1000	Jerry Garcia Band	“Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”	1977-07-02 – Palo Alto, CA	1977	18:49	Rock

†The numbering here is “up to” the 101,000th song, thus negative count numbers are shown for those tracks which got “pushed down” below the 100k mark, due to those forces mentioned in the opening section of this post. To get the current track count simply add 100,000.

Envoi

See you next time! (Very soon, as I’m less than 75 tracks before the next 1k are heard!)

Just listened to my 101,000th unique iTunes track, a long (and at times quite good) version of “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” by The Jerry Garcia Band at one of many shows at the Keystone Palo Alto in 1977, this one on July 2nd (how did anyone in the Bay Area get anything done in 1977?).

101,000 unique tracks comprises 713.61 GB of data, with a total duration of 321 days, 9 hours, 15 minutes, and 56 seconds (ignoring multiple plays). My iTunes collection still has 87,333 items left unplayed — 570 fewer tracks than the last milestone, thus a net gain of 430 tracks. The unplayed tracks take up 655.59 GB of data (↓ 16.5GB) with a playing time of 441 days, 4 hours, 4 minutes, and 19 seconds (↓ 16 days).

More detailed analysis to come, and I still need to put the entire first 100K under the microscope.

As promised, here’s some data about the most recent 1,000 songs I listened to. These made up the last 1% of 100,000 unique tracks heard.

Purview

We consider merely the 1,000 tracks played by iTunes (or its related phone app) from the April 2 to June 9, in the year 2017* — which tracks comprise numbers 99,001 – 100,000 in my ‘Already Played’ Smart Playlist.†

*Those paying attention to my earlier report will note that the last investigation covered songs played through March 28th — So why the 5 day gap? Due to the fact that songs may be played multiple times, a repeated play of a song heard before may ‘push out’ a new song from the LastX set of songs. That is, if we consider the ‘Last 10’ songs and start from the 91st song, counting up to 100 unique songs, and songs 91-99 are all new (single play) tracks, but the would-be 100th track is a repeat of #1, we’ve still only listened to 99 total songs; if we now listen to a new track for #100, the song which had earlier been #91 has been ‘pushed down’ to #90 (due to the fact that the former #1 is now #99) and the time at which that song was heard has been lost, replaced by the Last Played time of the former song #92 (now #91). Taking this over 1,000 songs explains why we’re missing quite a few days. Alas, some songs are lost from our view, like some strange Feynman Diagram of data.

†More details about this playlist and associated details (including that covered in the preceding note) can be found in this earlier post on reaching 99,000 songs. The same caveats about data modification apply.

Overview

Changes in the conditions of my material life continue. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the primary fact presented by these 1,000 songs: Over 80% of all tracks played are Radio Shows.

80.3% of all tracks played were Radio Shows

As previously mentioned, these tracks were played between April 2 and June 9, 2017, making a total of 68 days to play these 1,000 songs. Thus nearly 15 songs were played per day.

14.7 Songs played per Day

Assuming that each track was played only once during the thousand song run — not an entirely valid assumption (and see note * above), but a fair hypothesis for this analysis — the total amount of time taken to play these 1k songs was 19 days, 17 hours, 17 minutes, and 21 seconds.

Total Time of Tracks: 19 Days, 17 Hours, 17 Minutes, and 21 Seconds

Since these songs were played over a stretch of 68 days, and given the total length of time of all played tracks above, this means that just over 29% of this 68-day period was spent listening to iTunes in one way or another.

29% of Each Day spent listening to iTunes

or

6 hours and 57-1/2 minutes per day Listening to Stuff

Once again, most of these tracks have only been played once. Specifically, 900 songs (9/10) were played for the first time during this most recent thousand tracks. The remaining 100 songs with multiple plays together have been played a grand total of 354 times.

900 Tracks heard for the 1st Time

Details

Genres

The data shows the prevalence of Radio Shows in my recent listening. Here is a chart, broken down by genre, showing what was included in these one thousand tracks:

And here is a table showing those genres which each provided over 1% of the total number of tracks played:

Songs Played by Genre

Radio Show	803
Rock	76
Pop	16
Alternative	14
Jazz	13
Novelty	11

All the rest of tracks played make up 6.7% of the total.

But the prevalence of Radio Shows is even greater than shown by this first view, due to the fact that (natürlich) the average radio show is longer than most popular songs. If we inspect the tracks played with respect to their duration we discover that the Radio Show genre actually makes up almost 97% of the total.

96.92% of time spent listening to Radio Shows

Here’s the chart:

Usually I’d put a table in here to follow up the chart, but the reality is that only one other Genre made up more than 1% of the total time spent listening. This was Rock, which 1.14% of the total duration spent listening to these thousand tracks. That big green bar in the chart up above, representing time of Jazz songs? That represents only 0.31% of the total time. I almost made a table of the contributions by time excepting Radio Shows, but … meh.

Again, due to the overwhelming preponderance of old radio shows among these thousand tracks, the average length of the played tracks was twenty-eight minutes and twenty-four seconds. This was very similar to the average from the last thousand tracks, being only twenty seconds less.

Average length of played tracks: 28:23.8

Radio shows had the longest average, at thirty-four minutes and seventeen seconds (34:16.6). Only two other Genres averaged over ten minutes: Avant-Garde (a single Salvador Dalí track from Être Dieu, lasting twenty-five minutes and five seconds) and History (three selections, averaging ten minutes and fifteen seconds each). Since I ripped you off last time, here’s another table:

Average Length of Tracks by Genre
(with more than 10 tracks played)

Radio Show	(803 tracks)	28:23.8
Jazz	(13 tracks)	6:40.2
Novelty	(11 tracks)	5:48.4
Rock	(76 tracks)	4:16.5
Pop	(16 tracks)	3:51.5
Alternative	(14 tracks)	3:25

Albums

Radio Shows contributed (of course) most of the songs when we regard them by albums. Over half the tracks played came from just fourteen albums.

528 tracks came from just 14 albums

Of course, grouping Radio Shows into ‘albums’ means that these have more tacks than the average CD. Of the fourteen albums mentioned above, the smallest contribution was over seventeen tracks. All of the albums making up this majority of tracks heard were Radio Shows. The first non-radio album on the list, with seven tracks, was Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits. (This album has only nine tracks — a respectable number — so that it would never have made the top of the list anyway.) The top fourteen albums are:

Lux Radio Theatre	112 tracks
Theater Five	73
The Green Hornet	38
Sears Radio Theater	36
Space Patrol	36
Suspense	33
NBC University Theater	32
Mystery House	31
CBS Radio Mystery Theater	28
Have Gun, Will Travel	28
Words At War	23
Zero Hour	23
You Are There	18
Gunsmoke	17

Artists

All of the most played artists this time around were those actors appearing in the most frequent albums/shows mentioned above. The list includes the luminaries John Dehner and William Conrad (for Have Gun, Will Travel and Gunsmoke respectively), as well as Al Hodge, Jack McCarthy (who both played The Green Hornet) and Earle Graser (who played The Lone Ranger during the 30’s).

Songs

As I said earlier, the vast majority — 900 — of the played tracks have only been heard once (by me). The 100 songs which have been played 354 times in toto primarily consist of songs played only twice (74 songs). And almost 20% of the 354 multiple plays came from one song — if ‘song’ it can be called, but as I have named radio episodes ‘songs’ who am I to quibble? — that single song being the first movement (Tacet) of John Cage’s 4’33”. It certainly has its appealing aspects.

Most played song (70 times): “4’33”: I – Tacet” by John Cage

The next most frequently played track was the work of genius “The Man’s Too Strong” by Dire Straits, which I’ve listened to (according to iTunes data) a total of thirteen times.

2nd most played song (13 times): “The Man’s Too Strong” by Dire Straits

Only two other songs in this last one thousand have been heard (by me) ten or more times, both of them covers: Johnny Cash’s masterful rendition of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt” (11 times), and “Working Class Hero” as performed by Marianne Faithfull live on her album Blazing Away.

The shortest track was only 3 seconds long, an audio sample from an experimental set of sound files from the radio station KKFS. The longest track lasted two hours, thirty minutes and forty-six seconds; this was “If Two Of Them Are Dead”, a week-long radio drama, from the series Zero Hour hosted by Rod Serling, which originally aired in September of 1973, though this particular recording was broadcast (putatively) from New Year’s Eve 1973 though January 4, 1974. The song closest to the average length (the median) was an episode of Suspense titled “On a Country Road” (aired May 5, 1959) which clocks in at seventeen minutes and twenty-nine seconds.

Review

I usually refrain from getting into my ratings for specific tracks, etc. I will say, however, that the average rating for all 1,000 tracks was 3-3/4 stars. I won’t get into specific of my rating system save to say that this is lower than usual for rated items.

I will also say that not all radio shows are created equal, and that something was forgotten not long after television began to dominate American media. The reprise of radio in the 1970’s was for the most part a pale mimeograph of the original greats. However, many great shows aired on radio under the penumbra of the new medium of television. Shows such as Dragnet, Gunsmoke, and Have Gun, Will Travel were broadcast on both radio and TV, and the radio version of these shows were often at least as good — if not better — than the televised episodes.‡ Other good radio worth checking out includes Suspense, some of the Lux Radio Theatre, the fantastic Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, Let George Do It, and Box 13. And fans of history will love the wonderful dramatic recreations of You Are There. There are many other great shows, but the ones mentioned have enough extant episodes to make binge listening a possibility. (You might check out Pat Novak … For Hire for a different take on Jack Webb.)

‡Note that many of the available recordings of Have Gun, Will Travel are of lower quality. :(

I still hope to make an analysis of the full set of my first 100,000 songs. But I do not doubt that I won’t complete that before the next thousand tracks have passed my ears. Currently I’m knee-deep in Lux Radio Theatre episodes, and I’m trying to make up the over 100 day deficit between songs listened to and those I have not yet heard. So I expect the average track length to grow greatly in the next tranche.

Here is another sample of these last one thousand songs:

Another Tenth of One Thousand Tracks

#	Artist	Name	Album	Date	Time	Genre
10		“The Tin Whistle”	The Columbia Workshop	11/23/1946	29:56	Radio Show
20		“The Last Letter of Dr Bronson”	Suspense	7/27/1943	29:39	Radio Show
30		“Masquerade”	CBS Radio Mystery Theater	2/11/1977	44:57	Radio Show
40	Abbott & Costello	“Sam Shovel – Case Of The Russian Diplomat”	The Abbott & Costello Show	11/18/1948	28:52	Radio Show
50		“The Strange Voyage of the Lady Dee”	CBS Radio Mystery Theater	11/18/1974	43:58	Radio Show
60		“The Mystery of the Marie Celeste”	Suspense	12/27/1955	29:13	Radio Show
70	Eric Dolphy	“245”	Seven Classic Albums	1960	6:51	Jazz
80	Spike Jones	Guest – Francis Craig	Spotlight Revue	11/14/1947	29:41	Radio Show
90		“A Table for Two”	CBS Radio Mystery Theater	9/25/1978	42:32	Radio Show
100	Glen Langan	“Monica Feels Threatened”	Mystery Is My Hobby	1947	24:58	Radio Show
110	William Conrad	“Maw Hawkins”	Gunsmoke	3/8/1959	23:49	Radio Show
120	The White Stripes	“Black Jack Davey”	Black Jack Davey – Single	2004	5:06	Alternative
130	The Stooges	“Head On”	Metallic K.O.	1976	8:30	Rock
140	Bob Dylan & The Band	“All-American Boy”	A Tree With Roots, vol. 3	1967	3:57	Rock
150		“Great Impersonation”	Studio One	1/27/1948	0:11	Radio Show
160	Tyrone Power & Barbara Stanwyck	“This Above All”	Lux Radio Theatre	9/14/1942	59:04	Radio Show
170	Bob & Ray	“Lawrence Fechtenberger’s New Recruit”	Bob & Ray Present the CBS Radio Network	11/25/1959	15:27	Radio Show
180	Ronald Reagan	“Carbine Williams”	Lux Radio Theatre	3/22/1954	55:12	Radio Show
190	Anne Baxter	“The Affairs of Susan” [AFRS]	Lux Radio Theatre	8/24/1953	56:20	Radio Show
200		“The Elsner Case”	The Line-Up	12/28/1950	29:41	Radio Show
210	John Dehner	“Bad Bart”	Have Gun, Will Travel	1/31/1960	24:29	Radio Show
220		“Condition: Red”	Words At War	1/25/1944	29:29	Radio Show
230	Union Carbide Productions	“Maximum Dogbreath”	Financially Dissatisfied Philosophically Trying	1989	4:42	Rock
240		“Heart Of Darkness”	NBC University Theater	5/15/1949	59:28	Radio Show
250	The English Beat	“Ackee 1 2 3”	Special Beat Service	1982	3:13	Rock
260		“The Good Samaritians”	Theater Five	10/15/1964	20:47	Radio Show
270	Jimmy Stewart	“Britt Poncett’s Christmas Carol”	The Six Shooter	12/20/1953	28:58	Radio Show
280		“Lexington, Concord And Merriam’s Corner [April 19, 1775]”	You Are There	5/15/1949	30:05	Radio Show
290		“Melodrama”	Theater Five	8/13/1964	20:56	Radio Show
300	Jack Moyles	“Ace High Straight”	Rocky Jordan	12/12/1948	29:48	Radio Show
310	Bob Bailey	“The Markham Matter”	Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar	11/18/1956	30:00	Radio Show
320		“The Ship”	Words At War	7/24/1943	29:27	Radio Show
330	Charles Russell	“The Racehorse Piledriver Matter”	Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar	10/8/1949	29:45	Radio Show
340		“Murder in Paradise”	Mystery House	11/18/1945	26:26	Radio Show
350		“The Walls of Poison Ivy”	Theater Five	7/14/1965	20:31	Radio Show
360	John Dehner	“No Visitors”	Have Gun, Will Travel	12/28/1958	24:23	Radio Show
370	Claudette Colbert	“Thunder on the Hill”	Lux Radio Theatre	11/9/1953	52:06	Radio Show
380		“A Leading Case”	Sears Radio Theater	5/30/1979	48:57	Radio Show
390		“A Spy Ring In June”	Stand By for Crime	1953	24:36	Radio Show
400	John Dehner	“The Statue of San Sebastian”	Have Gun, Will Travel	5/10/1959	23:55	Radio Show
410		“Murder Hires A Hall”	Mystery House	6/7/1946	25:27	Radio Show
420		“Muncy’s Mob”	Sears Radio Theater	5/24/1979	49:10	Radio Show
430	John Dehner	“Assignment In Stone’s Crossing”	Have Gun, Will Travel	11/8/1959	23:56	Radio Show
440	Jack Moyles	“Up in Flames”	Rocky Jordan	12/19/1948	29:38	Radio Show
450		“Design for Disaster”	Space Patrol	9/11/1954	28:59	Radio Show
460	Dick Powell	“To the Ends of the Earth”	Lux Radio Theatre	5/23/1949	1:00:10	Radio Show
470	June Allyson & Margaret O’Brien	“Little Women”	Lux Radio Theatre	3/13/1950	59:53	Radio Show
480	Al Hodge	“Gasoline And The Hornet”	The Green Hornet	8/29/1943	29:23	Radio Show
490	Jack McCarthy	“Murder and Espionage”	The Green Hornet	11/28/1952	29:50	Radio Show
500		“Lonely Hearts Club Of Doom”	Stand By for Crime	1953	24:43	Radio Show
510	Bob Bailey	“The Flowers That Smelled of Murder””	Let George Do It	11/1/1948	29:40	Radio Show
520	Barbara Stanwyck & Barry Sullivan	“Jeopardy”	Lux Radio Theatre	3/15/1954	48:39	Radio Show
530		“The Show-Off”	The Old Gold Comedy Theatre	1/21/1945	30:14	Radio Show
540	Jimmy Stewart	“Apron Faced Sorrel”	The Six Shooter	2/7/1954	28:32	Radio Show
550	Ross Martin	“Chicago John And The Glitter People”	Zero Hour	7/24/1974	23:41	Radio Show
560	Donovan Faust	“Intrigue on the Waterfront”	The Green Hornet	4/8/1944	29:14	Radio Show
570		“The Final Fall”	Sears Radio Theater	2/19/1979	50:08	Radio Show
580		“The Ninth Commandment”	Words At War	12/28/1943	29:58	Radio Show
590		“An Average American Murder”	Theater Five	12/16/1964	20:20	Radio Show
600		“The Imposters”	Theater Five	1/21/1965	21:42	Radio Show
610	R.E.M.	“Superman”	Life’s Rich Pageant	1986	2:52	Rock
620	Charlton Heston & Joan Fontaine	“The President’s Lady”	Lux Radio Theatre	9/28/1953	56:49	Radio Show
630		“Mama’s Girl”	Theater Five	6/1/1965	21:14	Radio Show
640		“Murder Takes Practice”	Mystery House	4/21/1946	27:07	Radio Show
650		“An Honorable Way”	Theater Five	10/19/1964	19:50	Radio Show
660	John Dehner	“French Leave”	Have Gun, Will Travel	1/17/1960	24:56	Radio Show
670	Janet Leigh	“Strictly Dishonorable”	Lux Radio Theatre	12/8/1952	53:21	Radio Show
680		“The Strange Affliction”	Sears Radio Theater	5/29/1979	51:09	Radio Show
690		“Sauce for the Goose”	Mystery House	9/30/1945	26:01	Radio Show
700	The Yardbirds	“I’m Not Talking”	Shapes Of Things	1965	2:32	Rock
710	Joseph Cotten & Anne Baxter	“Portrait Of Jenny”	Lux Radio Theatre	10/31/1949	59:34	Radio Show
720	Cornell Wilde	“Venom”	Hollywood Star Playhouse	6/19/1950	29:17	Radio Show
730		“Death House Blues”	Mystery House	10/7/1945	26:13	Radio Show
740		“The Composite Killer”	Mystery House	5/5/1946	26:12	Radio Show
750	Ringo Starr	“It Don’t Come Easy”	Ringo	1973	2:47	Rock
760		“The Perfect Hostess”	Sears Radio Theater	6/13/1979	39:19	Radio Show
770	Jack McCarthy	“Election Boomerang”	The Green Hornet	10/15/1952	30:00	Radio Show
780	Anne Baxter & Dan Dailey	“A Ticket to Tomahawk”	Lux Radio Theatre	6/4/1951	54:27	Radio Show
790	Don Douglas	“The Sixth Bullet”	John Steele, Adventurer	1/30/1951	29:58	Radio Show
800		“The Lord of the Witch Doctors”	Suspense	10/27/1942	29:19	Radio Show
810		“The Trophy”	Theater Five	1/15/1965	22:14	Radio Show
820		“Any Port in A Storm”	Theater Five	3/16/1965	22:09	Radio Show
830	Frank Lovejoy	“The Night Is a Weapon”	Night Beat	2/13/1950	33:44	Radio Show
840	Earle Graser	“The Mystery Of Apache Valley”	The Lone Ranger	1/11/1939	29:33	Radio Show
850	Peggy Seeger	“Letter to Pete”	Pete Seeger’s 90th Birthday: The Clearwater Concert	2009	6:34	Folk
860		“Lewis and Clark”	The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater	4/23/1977	40:07	Radio Show
870		“The Trial of John Peter Zenger [August 4, 1735]”	You Are There	2/6/1949	29:02	Radio Show
880	William Gargan	“Death of a Private Eye”	Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator	1/2/1952	29:08	Radio Show
890		“Courtesy”	X Minus One	8/18/1955	24:17	Radio Show
900		“The Hideout”	Words At War	5/1/1945	28:52	Radio Show
910	Love Academy	“Originell”	LVCDM EP	2010	2:17	Punk
920	Owen Gray	“Lonely Days”	Independent Jamaica (Songs of Freedom from the Treasure Isle)	1962	1:59	Reggae
930	Iron & Wine	“No Moon”	2009-05-13 – Schubas – Chicago, IL	2009	3:43	Alternative
940		“A Sense of Pride”	Sears Radio Theater	6/7/1979	39:19	Radio Show
950	Desmond Dekker & the Aces	“Shing A Ling”	The Original Reggae Hitsound of Desmond Dekker and The Aces	1968	2:19	Reggae
960	Buffalo Springfield	“49 Reasons” (demo)	The Missing Herd: Vol. 6 Do Not Approach Buffalo		2:29	Rock
970	Manito	“Na baixa da sapateiro”	Black Rio – Brazil Soul Power 1971-1980	1970	3:28	R&B
980		“The March of Time – Pearl Harbor”	The March of Time	12/11/1941	24:23	History
990	The Grateful Dead	“St. Stephen”	1978-01-22 – McArthur Court, U of Oregon, Eugene, OR	1978	7:35	Rock
1000	The Louvin Brothers	“I Wonder Where You Are Tonight”	Close Harmony	1993	2:42	Country

Just listened to my 100,000th unique iTunes track, the plaintive “I Wonder Where You Are Tonight” by The Louvin Brothers, appearing here on their collection Close Harmony. Preceding that song was the Argentine rock band Bersuit Vergarabat’s “Fisurar” (from La Argentinidad Al Palo), and next up is “Blood and Sand” by Pigface, from the album Welcome To Mexico… Asshole.

100,000 unique tracks comprises 693.83 GB of data, with a total duration of 301 days, 17 hours, 53 minutes, and 4 seconds (not accounting for multiple plays). My iTunes collection still has 87,903 items left unplayed — ~6,500 more tracks than the last milestone, due mostly to continued downloading of old radio shows from Archive.org inter alia. The unplayed tracks take up 672.05 GB of data (↑ 110GB) with a playing time of 457 days, 14 hours, 37 minutes, and 30 seconds (↑ 111 days; radio shows are long). We are far below the halfway point in terms of total duration now…

I’ll prepare a more detailed analysis, though I may need to do that in phases.

As promised, though belated, herewith are some points derived from data pursuant to the tranche of the most recent 1,000 songs which brought my total of iTunes tracks listened to up to the 99,000 mark. In the contemporary thought space, one calls such points and the thoughts about them ‘insights’, which pleads a special power for these details. One can do so much with modern computing power.

Purview

These details concern merely the 1,000 tracks played by iTunes (or its related phone app) from the 10th of December, 2016 to the 28th of March, 2017 — which tracks comprise numbers 98,001 – 99,000 in my ‘Already Played’ Smart Playlist. This playlist has the following very simple rule: # of Plays is greater than zero; the rule is applied to All Media.

This very basic rule means that movies or TV shows watched through the Apple media apparatus are counted as a ‘played track’, as we shall see in the 1k tranche of tracks. It also has as a concomitant consequence the fact that I shall never achieve 100% ‘completion’ in playing my entire collection, this due to the fact that PDF files included as ‘Digital Booklets’ with Apple Music purchases are not — cannot be, in fact — ‘played’ according to the logic provided for by the database.

Two other factors mar the mapping of the iTunes data with the ‘true’ reality which it (implies/reflects/purports to reveal/?) mirrors: First, any songs which have been deleted* from my collection lose any associated data as well, so their Plays and other datapoints are removed from the present universe (though I suppose one could trawl through backups to resurrect such). And second, iTunes provides a means by which the Plays may be ‘reset’ back to zero, so there may have been songs which have been listened to but which have since had that fact masked/obliterated/effaced from history.

Side note: This functionality seems to have changed in recent months, in that formerly whilst the Plays were reset to zero, the ‘Last Played’ timestamp remained. Now the latter is removed as well. Thus I have several (13) tracks which have no plays but do have a Last Played date. Oddly also, there are quite a few (131) songs which have been ‘Played’ but which have no associated ‘Last Played’ datum.

*Missing songs still have their associated data, though I’ve tried to replace such files (where possible) or remove the reference (where not). I still have a handful I haven’t been able to rectify, victims of my first iTunes data disaster, the loss of 20 GB of songs due to a hard drive failure oh-so-many years ago.

There is also the problem of duplicate music. I do not in this case mean duplicate occurrences of the same song on the same album — the underlying files are kept cleaner than that. But it is not unusual for popular songs to appear in my collection both on the original album release as well as on (sometimes multiple) compilation albums. There are also cases where iTunes itself has duplicated tracks, with an old ‘Protected’ track being joined by a ‘Purchased’ version. I have also some regular .mp3 versions of old purchased music, and have kept both out of spite, insecurity, and laziness.

In the data which follows, I have made some manual changes/edits, to wit: 1) I have simplified/changed Genres to make aggregation more possible or rational (thus ‘Calypso’ has been changed to ‘Folk’, for example), 2) I have had to edit data at times due to improper handling of exported iTunes information (the song title “Somebody’s Wrong” (with an unfortunate so-called smart quote) was changed to “Somebody’s Wrong” somewhere along the path into Excel, for instance), and 3) some names may have been changed to protect the innocent, if any such there be.

Overview

Due to changes in my material life (please see my LinkedIn page), my listening habits/opportunities/choices are also materially changed. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the primary fact presented by these 1,000 songs: Almost 1/2 (49%) of all tracks played are Radio Shows.

Almost 1/2 (49%) of all tracks played are Radio Shows

As previously mentioned, these tracks were played between December 10, 2016 and March 28, 2017, making a total of 108 days to play these 1,000 songs. Thus an average of 9-and-1/4 songs were played per day.

9.26 Songs played per Day

Assuming that each track was played only once during the thousand song run — not an entirely valid assumption, but a fair hypothesis for this analysis — the total amount of time taken to play these 1k songs was 12 days, 1 hour, 36 minutes, and 49 seconds.

Total Time of Tracks: 12 Days, 1 Hour, 36 Minutes, and 49 Seconds

Since these songs were played over a stretch of 108 days, and given the total length of time of all played tracks above, this means that over 11% of the 108-day period was spent listening to iTunes in one way or another.

11.17% of Each Day spent listening to iTunes

or

2 hours and 41 minutes per day Listening to Stuff

Most of these tracks have only been played once, which is both my preference and delight. Specifically, 833 songs (7/8) were played for the first time during this most recent thousand tracks. The remaining 167 songs with multiple plays together have been played a grand total of 529 times.

833 tracks had never been played before

Details

Genres

The data shows the prevalence of Radio Shows in my recent listening. Here is a chart, broken down by genre, showing what was included in these one thousand tracks:

And here is a table showing those genres which each provided over 1% of the total number of tracks played:

Songs Played by Genre

Radio Show	491
Rock	226
Pop	43
Spoken Word	29
Alternative	25
Electronica/Dance	24
Folk	14
R&B	14
World	13
Classical	12
Holiday	12
Punk	12
Country	11

All the rest of tracks played make up 7.4% of the total.

But the prevalence of Radio Shows is even greater than shown by this first view, due to the fact that (natürlich) the average radio show is longer than most popular songs. If we inspect the tracks played with respect to their duration we discover that the Radio Show genre actually makes up over 80% of the total.

Over 80% of time spent listening to Radio Shows

And of course there’s a chart:

Aaaand a table…

Tracks Played by Genre by Time

Radio Show	81.2%
Rock	6.4%
Spoken Word	3.3%
Pop	1.7%
Electronica/Dance	3.3%
Holiday	1.1%

(The remainder of tracks make up just over 5% of total time.)

Due — primarily, but not exclusively, as we shall see — to the preponderance of old radio shows among the one thousand tracks under consideration, the average length of the played tracks was seventeen minutes and twenty-two seconds.

Average length of played tracks: 17:22.6

Radio shows were not the longest tracks, on average, due to the fact that TV shows are included in the 1,000 files under consideration. We watched a couple of episodes of Shetland during this period, which averaged fifty-eight minutes (and one second) in length. The average length of radio shows was second, however, coming in at twenty-eight minutes and 43.5 seconds. Indeed, there were quite a few genres which had very long average lengths — again, due to changed material conditions of the listener. Five other genres had average times of over ten minutes. Even if we limit our attention to only those genres contributing at least 1% of the total number of tracks we see that the average length of songs played seems inordinately long, far greater than Pete Townshend’s two minutes and thirty-seven seconds at which he claimed all rock songs aimed before the advent of The Who. Here’s another table:

Average Length of Tracks by Genre
(with more than 10 tracks played)

Radio Show*	(491 tracks)	28:43.5
Spoken Word*	(29 tracks)	19:49.7
Holiday*	(12 tracks)	16:00.6
Electronica/Dance*	(24 tracks)	9:34.8
Pop*	(43 tracks)	6:50.4
Classical	(12 tracks)	5:07.1
World	(13 tracks)	4:58.5
Rock*	(226 tracks)	4:53.8
Novelty	(10 tracks)	4:10.9
Alternative	(25 tracks)	4:08.2
Latin	(10 tracks)	3:53.3
R&B	(14 tracks)	3:43.3
Folk	(14 tracks)	3:41.4
Blues	(10 tracks)	3:13.2
Punk	(12 tracks)	2:44.3
Country	(11 tracks)	2:39

(*These categories also contributed over 1% of the total time played.)

The shortest time per track was the minuscule 17 seconds averaged across the three tracks in the Radio Ad category, far smaller than the next shortest average of 1:53 for the Avant-Garde genre (which latter is so small due to the 31 seconds Marie Osmond took to perform Hugo Ball’s Dada poem “Karawane” in an mp3 provided by Greil Marcus to accompany his fantastic book Lipstick Traces).

Albums

With the prevalence of radio among these 1,000 tracks, it may seem strange to speak of ‘songs’ or ‘albums’, but I have organized those tracks just as if they were long albums with lots and lots of long ‘songs’. Some are stored as compilations — such as the Lux Radio Theater which had different stars each week — and some are associated with a single artist — such as Jack Webb’s Dragnet radio series. There are also those shows which had different stars over the length of their radio run, such as The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, which had seen its best days with Gerald Mohr as the iconic detective by the time Van Heflin took over the eponymous role.

433 tracks came from just 14 albums

Ignoring multiple artists/actors, just fourteen ‘albums’ as I define them account for over 40% of the songs played in the selection under review. Each of these contributed ten or more tracks to the total 1,000. These albums are as follows:

The 1966 Live Recordings                 (36 CD set)	Bob Dylan	117 tracks
Dragnet	Jack Webb	78
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar	Bob Bailey et al.	31
Boston Blackie	Richard Kollmar et al.	30
Box 13	Alan Ladd	29
The Adventures of Philip Marlowe	Gerald Mohr et al.	29
Let George Do It	Bob Bailey	28
The Adventures Of Frank Race	Tom Collins & Ivan Dubov	18
Richard Diamond, Private Detective	Dick Powell	15
Nick Carter, Master Detective	Lon Clark	13
The Adventures Of Sam Spade	Howard Duff (& Steve Dunne)	12
The Casebook Of Gregory Hood	Gale Gordon & Elliot Lewis	12
The Shadow	Orson Welles et al.	11
Under The Red Sky	Bob Dylan	10

Artists

Besides the artists mentioned above, only four other artists appear more than ten times in the 1k list. These are Steely Dan (16 tracks), Charles Russell (the 1st Johnny Dollar, also with 16 tracks), Anson Weeks (14 tracks), and Special Ed (a nom de radio for a WFMU DJ whose Christmas specials were in rotation last winter, with 11 tracks).

The perennial favorite (with me) Bob Dylan sang out most frequently, with 145 songs out of The 1000. 264 artists only appeared one time during this set of songs.

Most played artist: Bob Dylan (145 tracks)

Songs

As I said earlier, the vast majority — 833 — of the played songs have only been heard once (by me). Of the 167 songs whose total plays make up the 529 plays mentioned above, the most frequently heard was the delightful duet by William Shatner and Henry Rollins, “I Can’t Get Behind That”, from Shatner’s incredible album Has Been, which I’ve listened to (according to iTunes data) a total of twenty-one times.

Most played song (21 times): “I Can’t Get Behind That” by William Shatner

The most frequently played songs in this set of 1,000 are as follows:

Songs With Most Plays
(played at least 10 times)

“I Can’t Get Behind That”	William Shatner	21 plays
“Without God”	The Word	19
“Brothers In Arms”	Dire Straits	15
“Black Betty”	Ram Jam	14
“Go”	Dusminguet	14
“Smells Like Teen Spirit”	Nirvana	14
“Dock of the Bay”	Otis Redding	10
“I Won’t Back Down”	Johnny Cash	10

There was a lot of variance in track length from the average of 17 minutes and 23 seconds referenced above. The shortest track was only 4 seconds long, an audio clip from the Dragnet radio show where Jack Webb speaks of “Crime, the ally of treason”. The longest track clocked in at one hour, twenty-seven minutes and twenty-nine seconds; this was the “The Kranesburg Matter”, originally aired over five days in 1956 (August 24th to 30th) as part of the radio show Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, starring (in this particular incarnation) Bob Bailey as the insurance investigator with the gold-plated expense account. The song closest to the average length (the median) was a recording of the intermission from Bob Dylan’s Australia concert in Sydney on April 13, 1966, which clocks in at seventeen minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

Tracks Played By Length

Shortest	“Crime, the ally of treason”	Jack Webb	0:04
Longest	“The Kranesburg Matter”	Bob Bailey	1:27:29
Median	intermission	(Bob Dylan)	17:28

Review

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
— Socrates

So we have learned … What, exactly? I listened to a lot of old radio. One out of every nine minutes I was playing iTunes. That’s about it, maybe. Perhaps a better analyst would make more of this data.

I also know that it took me quite some time to fulfill my promise to provide this data analysis. As mentioned above, the Thousandth track in this set was listened to all the way back at the end of March, on Day 68 of the New Era. Much of this is due to procrastination; who in their right mind truly enjoys scrubbing data errors in Excel? But a large part of the delay may be laid at the feet of my changed material conditions. Less time than previously was available to me, and an exhaustion was felt beyond thud weight of imperious data.

In any event, it is good to finish this analysis, for two reasons. First, avoiding the despair of analysis interminable is always good; endings are better than the crushing wait for messiahs who never arrive. Secondly, the time since the 99,000th track was heard have not been soundless. More tunes/tracks/songs/stuff have passed through iTunes in the interim, and we are fast approaching yet another (base-10) milestone. Indeed, I am only 55 tracks away from my 100,000th iTunes track played, and I am glad to have finished with the last 1000 after only 945 more tracks were heard. More to come.

In my One Hundred Books review, I provided a list of the entire dataset under consideration. With one thousand audio files, however, perhaps this might seem overkill. To avoid boring you too much more, i will heap up only 1/10th of the complete dataset. Here it is:

One-Tenth of One Thousand Tracks

#	Artist	Name	Album	Year	Time	Genre
10	Bob Dylan	“Tom Turkey” (1)	Pecos Blues: Pat Garret & Billy The Kid Outtakes	1973	3:55	Rock
20	Zeki Müren	“Sûznâk Aksak Şarkı”	1955-63 Kayıtlaı/Recordings		3:38	World
30	Jack Webb	“The Big Ham” (06/28/53)	Dragnet Radio Series	1953	29:21	Radio Show
40	Lulu	“Feelin’ Alright”	What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves: 1967-1977	1970	3:02	R&B
50	Jack Webb	“The Big Child” (04/26/55)	Dragnet Radio Series	1955	25:22	Radio Show
60	Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass	“The Big Cowboys And Indians Fight At Casino Royale; Casino Royale Theme”	Casino Royale [Australian Mono]	1967	4:49	Pop
70	Yo La Tengo	“Big Day Coming”	Painful	1993	7:05	Alternative
80	Jack Webb	“The Big Fake” (06/01/50)	Dragnet Radio Series	1950	29:30	Radio Show
90	Bruce Springsteen	“Downbound Train”	Born In The U.S.A.	1984	3:37	Rock
100	Bob Bailey	“The First Client” (05/14/46)	Let George Do It	1946	29:19	Radio Show
110	James Kibbie	“Duetto III” BWV804	Bach Organ Works – Clavierübung III		2:48	Classical
120	Muddy Waters	“Double Trouble (Alternate)”	Chess Blues 1954-1960	1992	3:31	Blues
130	Johnny Cash	“Ballad Of Ira Hayes”	Classic Cash	1988	2:53	Country
140	Blue Cheer	“The Hunter”	Vincebus Eruptum / Outsideinside		4:31	Rock
150	Jethro Tull	“A Small Cigar”	Nightcap: Unreleased & Rare Tracks	1993	3:39	Rock
160	Marie Osmond	“Karawane”	Lipstick Traces	1984	0:31	Avant-Garde
170	Heiko Laux	“Organism”	Liquidism	1998	6:26	Electronica/Dance
180	Alicia Keys	“Girlfriend”	Songs In A Minor	2001	3:34	R&B
190	Anson Weeks	“1. Hallelujah 2. It Was So Beautiful 3. The Lady I Love 4. I Guess I’ll Have To Change My Plan”	Anson Weeks Broadcast		13:05	Pop
200	Bob Dylan	“Desolation Row”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-02-05 – Westchester County Center, White Plains, NY [AUD]	1966	10:50	Rock
210	Bob Dylan	“Love Minus Zero/No Limit” [incomplete]	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-02-06 – Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, PA [AUD]	1966	3:53	Rock
220	artist	Track 01	album		1:36	Spoken Word
230	Bob Dylan	“Tell Me, Momma”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-02-26 – Island Garden, Hempstead, NY [AUD]	1966	3:42	Rock
240	Anson Weeks	“Compilation of Selections 1”	Anson Weeks Broadcast		18:35	Pop
250	Bob Dylan	“I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-04-13 – Sydney Stadium, Sydney, Australia, New South Wales [SBD Australian TV]	1966	5:51	Rock
260	Jack Webb	“Benny Trounsel – Narcotics” (08/04/49)	Dragnet Radio Series	1949	29:41	Radio Show
270	Lon Clark	“The Echo of Death” (07/06/43)	Nick Carter, Master Detective	1943	29:31	Radio Show
280	Bob Dylan	“Cat’s In The Well”	Under The Red Sky	1990	3:21	Rock
290	Bob Dylan	“Desolation Row”	1966-04-13 – Sydney, Australia, Sydney Stadium, New South Wales	1966	11:08	Rock
300	Penguin Cafe Orchestra	“The Sound Of Someone Who You Love…”	Angels In The Architecture	1982	11:41	Alternative
310	Mira Calix	“Khala”	Ilanga Khala 7″		10:10	Electronica/Dance
320	artist	Track 02	album 1996b	1996	11:23	Spoken Word
330	Tom Collins	“The Violent Virtuoso” (09/04/49)	The Adventures Of Frank Race	1949	29:14	Radio Show
340	Gerald Mohr	“The Persian Slippers” (10/03/48)	The Adventures of Philip Marlowe	1948	29:36	Radio Show
350	Bob Dylan	“Desolation Row”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-04-19 – Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia [AUD]	1966	9:27	Rock
360	Bob Bailey	“Have Some Excitement” (06/07/48)	Let George Do It	1948	30:04	Radio Show
370	Bob Dylan	“Desolation Row”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-04-20 – Melbourne	1966	12:10	Rock
380	Julian Rose	“Hebrew vaudeville: parody on In the shade of the old apple tree”	Edison Gold Moulded Record	1906	2:13	Novelty
390	Richard Kollmar	“The Wentworth Diamonds” (04/25/45)	Boston Blackie	1945	27:02	Radio Show
400	Dick Powell	“The Ralph Chase Case” (05/15/49)	Richard Diamond, Private Detective	1949	29:32	Radio Show
410	Bob Dylan	“Baby, Let Me Follow You Down”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-04-29 – Stockholm Concert Hall, Stockholm, Sweden [AUD]	1966	3:19	Rock
420	Bob Dylan	“Ballad Of A Thin Man”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-05-01 – K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen, Denmark [SBD]	1966	7:54	Rock
430	Jack Webb	“Claude Jimmerson, Child Killer” (02/02/50)	Dragnet Radio Series	1950	29:20	Radio Show
440		“March of Time”	News 1937	1937	30:04	History
450	Bob Dylan	“Baby, Let Me Follow You Down”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-05-05 – Adelphi Cinema, Dublin, Ireland [SBD]	1966	3:36	Rock
460	artist	Track 01	album 2016b	2016	16:46	Spoken Word
470	Charles Russell	“Out of the Fire into the Frying Pan (The Prize Hog Bodyguard)” (8/21/1949)	Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar	1949	29:45	Radio Show
480	Bob Dylan	“Desolation Row”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-05-06 – ABC Theatre, Belfast, Northern Ireland [SBD]	1966	10:16	Rock
490	Bob Dylan	“Like A Rolling Stone”	The 1966 Live Recordings 1966-05-06 – ABC Theatre, Belfast, Northern Ireland [SBD]	1966	8:03	Rock
500	National Safety Council	“Right Dress – Part 1”	Right Dress		10:23	Spoken Word
510	Elliot Lewis	“The White Masters” (11/25/1946)	The Casebook Of Gregory Hood	1946	25:30	Radio Show
520	Harold Huber	“Murder Is a Private Affair” (11/30/1945)	Agatha Christie’s Poirot		26:25	Radio Show
530	Gerald Mohr	“Friend from Detroit” (03/05/49)	The Adventures of Philip Marlowe	1949	29:38	Radio Show
540	Orson Welles	“The Society of the Living Dead” (01/23/38)	The Shadow	1938	28:01	Radio Show
550	Gerald Mohr	“Cloak of Kamehameha” (04/23/49)	The Adventures of Philip Marlowe	1949	29:45	Radio Show
560	Gerald Mohr	“Lady in Mink” (04/30/49)	The Adventures of Philip Marlowe	1949	29:45	Radio Show
570		“Murder Across The Board” (07/12/41)	The Green Hornet	1941	28:25	Radio Show
580	Orson Welles	“The Phantom Voice” (1938-02-06)	The Shadow	1938	26:33	Radio Show
590	Dick Powell	“Murder My Sweet” (6/8/1946)	Hollywood Star Time	1946	30:12	Radio Show
600	Steely Dan	“Your Gold Teeth”	Countdown To Ecstasy	1998	6:59	Rock
610	J. Scott Smart	“A Window For Murder” (10/03/47)	The Fat Man	1947	26:57	Radio Show
620	Bob Dylan	“Horace Silver and Steely Dan”	Theme Time Radio Hour Season 1 – 07 – Father		0:58	Spoken Word
630	New Christs	“Gotta Keep Movin'”	Tivoli, Sydney Australia 7-83		4:05	Punk
640	William Gargan	“Microfilm in the Fishtank” (10/24/51)	Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator	1951	29:29	Radio Show
650	artist	Track 03	album		43:29	Spoken Word
660	Bob Bailey	“A Deadman Who Was a Murderer” (07/19/48)	Let George Do It	1948	29:36	Radio Show
670	Alan Ladd	“Speed To Burn (06-26-1949)”	Box 13	1949	26:47	Radio Show
680	Tom Conway	“The Clue Of The Hungry Cat” (10/26/46)	The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes	1946	24:24	Radio Show
690	Muhammad Ali & the Ali Gang	“Ali fights Tooth Decay – side 1”	The Adventures Of Ali And His Gang Vs. Mr. Tooth Decay	1976	18:12	Novelty
700	Bob Bailey	“The Smugglers” (04/05/48)	Let George Do It	1948	29:42	Radio Show
710	Morah Blanka (Mrs. Blanka Rosenfeld)	“Hillel’s Love for Torah”	Stories Under the Mitzvah Tree	1973	10:21	Spoken Word
720	Suicide Commandos	“Mosquito Crucifixion”	Make A Record		2:13	Punk
730	Inner Sanctum	“The Man from Yesterday” (12/21/41)	Inner Sanctum	1941	29:26	Radio Show
740	Jack Webb	“The Big Youngster” (08/17/50)	Dragnet Radio Series	1950	29:19	Radio Show
750		“Votes For Sale” (10/9/40)	The Green Hornet	1940	27:48	Radio Show
760		“Murder Trips A Rat” (9/19/42)	The Green Hornet	1942	27:24	Radio Show
770	Bob Bailey	“The Father Who Had Nothing to Say” (09/13/48)	Let George Do It	1948	29:30	Radio Show
780	Bob Bailey	“Murder It’s A Gift” (11/08/48)	Let George Do It	1948	29:36	Radio Show
790	Larry Thor	“The Roberto Segura Murder Case” (01/31/50)	Broadway Is My Beat	1950	29:32	Radio Show
800	Larry Thor	“The Sgt Gordon Ellis Murder Case” (11/12/49)	Broadway Is My Beat	1949	29:23	Radio Show
810	Dr. Feelgood	“Back in the Night”	Stupidity	1976	3:09	R&B
820	Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen	“Big Mamou”	We’ve Got a Live One Here!	1976	3:31	Pop
830	Smashing Pumpkins	“Take Me Down”	Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness – Dawn To Dusk	1995	2:52	Alternative
840	D.J. Menard	“La Porte d’en Arrière”	River of Song: a Musical Journey Down the Mississippi		3:49	Folk
850	Bob Bailey	“The Ideal Vacation Matter” [AFRTS] (9/22/57)	Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar	1957	20:12	Radio Show
860	Spike Jones	Guest – Jan August (10/31/47)	Spotlight Revue	1947	29:41	Radio Show
870	Spike Jones	Guest – Jack Owens (11/07/47)	Spotlight Revue	1947	28:52	Radio Show
880	Richard Kollmar	“Atkins, Jewel Thief” (12/06/45)	Boston Blackie	1945	27:56	Radio Show
890	Inner Sanctum	“Black Sea Gull” (03/07/43)	Inner Sanctum	1943	28:41	Radio Show
900	Joel McCrea	“Jailbird” (05/25/52)	Tales of the Texas Rangers	1952	29:55	Radio Show
910		“The Corpse That Wasn’t There” (3/7/43)	The Green Hornet	1943	33:20	Radio Show
920	John Emery	“The Case of the Cellini Cup” (4/29/43)	Philo Vance	1943	29:38	Radio Show
930	Bob Bailey	“The Night in Paris Matter” (8/16/59)	Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar	1959	19:04	Radio Show
940	Brian Donlevy	“Missing Japanese Weapons” (02/06/50)	Dangerous Assignment	1950	29:16	Radio Show
950	Wilco	encore break	2011-09-23 – Central Park, New York	2011	2:49	Rock
960	Jacques Brel	“Le Colonel”	Au Printemps	1958	3:13	World
970	Charles Brown	“Get Yourself Another Fool”	Driftin’ Blues – The Best Of Charles Brown		3:03	Blues
980	The Mysterious Traveler	“I Won’t Die Alone” (5/11/48)	The Mysterious Traveler	1948	29:27	Radio Show
990	Cheb I Sabbah	“Sadats (Saints of Marrakesh)”	La Kahena	2005	6:02	World
1000	Forty Foot Echo	“Brand New Day”	Freaky Friday	2003	3:36	Alternative

Just listened to my 99,000th unique iTunes track, a bland piece of nothing from the Freaky Friday soundtrack, “Brand New Day” by Forty Foot Echo. I would have preferred the milestone to have fallen to the preceding song, Steve Earle’s “Down The Road” from Guitar Town.

99,000 unique tracks comprises 653.99 GB of data, with a total duration of 280 days, 12 hours, 19 minutes, and 17 seconds (without allowance for multiple plays). My iTunes collection still has 81,351 items left unplayed — a ~5k increase in the number or tracks, due mostly to downloading old radio shows from Archive.org after becoming enamored with the Dragnet programs mentioned in my last note on music. The unplayed tracks take up 561.56 GB of data (↑ 79GB) with a playing time of 306 days, 15 hours, 16 minutes, and 42 seconds (↑ 84 days, due to the aforementioned radio shows, most of which are 30 minutes long).

I’m preparing a more detailed analysis, similar to that in my 100 Books note, and will let you know when that’s done.