death of music?

Spending 2 hours travelling to work and back everyday, I am oblivious to the scenery swishing pass me and the people opposite me. Why? Plugged into my new Creative Zen Neeon 6GB.. that's why! Now, I'm not complaining about the player.. 3000 songs, easy to use menus, pretty good sound with an equaliser built in, FM radio (whenever I feel German). It's an engineering wonder! But I am worried.. I have noticed a startling difference in the way I listen to music. With 1500 (I only half filled it) songs, I am definitely spoilt for choice and so when I get bored with a certain song, I flip to the next, jumping songs, albums, genres.

Before I had this mp3 player, I was using the good old discman (without mp3 capabilities). I had no choice but to listen to whatever I had in there. So much so, I never jumped tracks, knowing full well if I did, I would have nothing else to listen to. In doing so, I was forced to listen carefully to each song, and the more I listened, the more I noticed about the musicality, the rhythms, the message the artist is trying to put a across. In the end, a song which I never liked first time round, could be my favourite song! There's so much in a song to listen to and lately, I have not been doing that. It is ironic that the mp3 player exposes you to more songs, but in the end, you appreciate less music.

Another irony here: The advertisement says: "Put a face to your music." Here, they are trying to advertise the replacable covers/skins of the player to suite the individual. The way I see it is this - When I buy albums, I like looking at the CD sleeves, with the album art, photos, writeups and lyrics - It sort of "put a face" or "put a picture" to the music I was listening to. Well, with mp3, I don't think many people look at the albums they bought this way or worst; download their music. I am guilty too. Now, is the mp3 really the death of music and artist appreciation? It's up to the individual to decide.