I keep deleting music to make my collection smaller. Then I immediately go and download more. This is the ridiculous reality of being a DJ who loves music.
Music is moreish. Finding that next absolute banger is addictive. A huge drop. An unexpected throwback sample. A filthy acid bassline. That obscure remix that somehow makes a familiar track sound completely new.
You just can’t say no.
I’ve tried to impose some discipline. I rate my music from one to five stars and delete anything scoring less than three. It works – briefly. Then I discover another playlist, another SoundCloud rabbit hole, another “tracks you NEED on your USB” post, and suddenly my carefully trimmed collection is growing again.
Throw an AuDHD brain into the equation and things get interesting. The ADHD side wants novelty and constantly seeks the next exciting discovery. It can also lose interest in music I previously loved. Meanwhile, the autistic side wants to catalogue everything, organise it, add notes and make absolutely sure I don’t delete something I might conceivably need in some obscure future DJ situation.
Finding A Better Way To Manage Music Madness
I eventually discovered MediaMonkey, which has become a really useful tool for managing this chaos. I can listen to my collection while working, rate tracks, tag genres, add them to playlists and delete the dross without disappearing down a Rekordbox rabbit hole for three hours.
Even better, its Windows integration makes moving music between folders, MediaMonkey and Rekordbox remarkably straightforward. Its Chromium-based architecture also makes it possible to build JavaScript/JSON addons.
But I spotted another problem: I wasn’t remembering the music.
I recognised tracks when I heard them, but often couldn’t recall the artist or title afterwards. So I built a simple MediaMonkey plugin called Track Announcer [download] that displays the artist and track title in huge letters when a song starts – and announces them aloud.
Suddenly, I’m not just listening. I’m learning my collection.
Maybe The Answer Isn’t To Stop?
Perhaps music addiction isn’t something to cure. Maybe it’s something to manage.
I’m experimenting with better tagging, stricter ratings, smaller playlists and deliberately revisiting favourites rather than endlessly chasing new music.
What about you? Do you have a DJ music-hoarding problem? Maybe the answer is a monthly purge, a “new music” limit (are 100 tracks downloaded in a day okay??), or simply accepting that some tracks can be enjoyed without needing to own them.
Although, let’s be honest…
That new acid-house banger on SoundCloud isn’t going to download itself.
