When I started working as a music librarian in Les Mureaux in January 2024, I began tracking all the albums I listened to. At the end of the year, I wanted to see how many albums I had listened to and what genres of music I had explored. The objectives were:
Personal: To learn more about myself and my listening habits
Professional: To identify genres I don't listen to often, so I can focus on them more and suggest albums to our members
The data I collected includes: date, call number, artist name, album name, barcode, genre, and notes (coup de coeur). The raw data was then organized into four different tables:
The data is finally here, and it's so interesting! Let's dive in!
Total number of albums listened per genre
| GENRE | # LISTENED | % LISTENED |
|---|---|---|
| WM 001-098 | 15 | 4,1% |
| CF 099.2 | 41 | 11,2% |
| JAZZ 1 | 44 | 12% |
| BLUES 110 | 10 | 2,7% |
| SOUL 180 | 9 | 2,5% |
| ROCK/POP 2 | 111 | 30,3% |
| HARD ROCK 2.40 | 38 | 10,4% |
| DISCO/FUNK 2.80 | 5 | 1,4% |
| DANCE R'n'B 2.81 | 14 | 3,8% |
| RAP 2.82 | 9 | 2,5% |
| ELECTRO 2.83 | 4 | 1,1% |
| TRIP HOP 2.85 | 9 | 2,5% |
| FR ROCK 2.90 | 7 | 1,9% |
| CLASSIQUE 3 | 21 | 5,7% |
| CONTEMPORARY 4 | 2 | 0,5% |
| AMBIENT 450 | 6 | 1,6% |
| MUSIQUE DE FILM 520 | 15 | 4,1% |
| ENFANTS 7XX | 6 | 1,6% |
In total, in 2024, I listened to 366 different albums. I counted only the albums borrowed from our médiatheque and did not include albums from my private collection. Basically, I listened to one album per day! Perfect!
In first place, with 111 listens, which corresponds to 30.3% of the total albums listened to, is pop/rock. This is not a surprise because it’s a massive collection with a variety of different artists, including Blur, Pink Floyd, and Sia. And that is not even the most extreme difference. In second place is jazz with 44 listens, which corresponds to 12% of the total albums listened to. This is significant because I never listened to jazz before I worked in this médiatheque. However, my boss is a big jazz enthusiast, so he introduced me to some artists, and I got interested. The jazz collection is also extensive, so I had a lot of choices. I love the sound of the saxophone and prefer instrumental jazz over vocal jazz. There's nothing better than a chaotic saxophone solo to tickle my brain. I used to think that jazz was an underground music genre, only listened to by beatniks, artists, and drunks, but it’s actually considered high art music here in France.
In third place is chanson française with 41 listens, which corresponds to 12% of the total albums listened to. This is not a surprise because I work in France, and since I don’t know much about French music, I tried to listen as much as possible. And I haven’t even scratched the surface yet. I mostly listened to contemporary productions. There is a whole treasure trove of old music to listen to and discover. But that's okay, there’s no hurry—I have a three-year contract with the library.
In the honorary fourth place is hard rock/metal, with 38 listens, which corresponds to 10.4% of total listens. This is not a surprise since it’s my favorite music genre. I thought it would be higher, but the collection is not the largest and is a bit outdated. Not many people listen to this genre, so the collection was even in reserve, and there wasn’t a lot of new stuff. Another reason is that my boss doesn’t really love this genre, so I couldn’t freely play it in the office. However, I did discover Motörhead this year. I listened to a couple of their albums and loved them! I also tried to buy some new stuff, mostly from big names like Deep Purple, Foo Fighters, and Bruce Dickinson, and I enjoyed listening to them.
In fifth place is classical music, with 21 listens, which corresponds to 5.7% of the total albums listened to. This was an interesting one—I really gave it a chance, but interestingly, classical music didn’t really work for me. It just didn’t touch my heart the way metal, rock, jazz, or world music can. But I will give it more chances.
After that, it was film music and world music that shared the same number of listens—15 each, which corresponds to 5.7% of the total albums listened to. I found this really enriching because film music inspired me to be more in touch with the contemporary cinema world, and soundtracks are different from usual music albums. On the other hand, world music was awesome because there are so many different styles, and in a way, I traveled through the world.
Dance and R’n’B were cool because I gave more chances to contemporary radio music and discovered Dua Lipa. In the rap collection, I discovered Grand Corps Malade, whose poetry, voice, and melodies I really loved. In the electro collection, I listened to Daft Punk and loved it, and in trip hop, I discovered Justice, and they are awesome! In the ambient music collection, I discovered Sofiane Pamart (thanks to the Olympic Games ceremony), and he touched my heart. The only collection that I really don’t understand is contemporary music. I listened to two albums, one of them was Moondog, which I loved. But I definitely need to work more on getting to know this collection.
Number of albums listened per month
| MONTH | # ALBUMS |
|---|---|
| January | 18 |
| February | 24 |
| March | 47 |
| April | 41 |
| May | 38 |
| June | 34 |
| July | 37 |
| August | 17 |
| September | 26 |
| October | 34 |
| November | 35 |
| December | 15 |
March, April, and May are the winners! I'm looking forward to seeing what 2025 will look like. When I started working as a music librarian, I was at a desk with a CD player right next to me, so I could listen to music whenever I wanted, as long as I kept the volume low. Sometime in the middle of 2024, I moved to a desk on the opposite side of the office, far from the CD player. Now, I have to be more considerate of my colleagues because if I want to hear the music, I need to turn up the volume!
Total number of coup de coeurs per collection
| GENRE | # LOVED | % LOVED |
|---|---|---|
| WM 001-098 | 2 | 1,6% |
| CF 099.2 | 9 | 7,1% |
| JAZZ 1 | 19 | 15,1% |
| BLUES 110 | 3 | 2,4% |
| SOUL 180 | 2 | 1,6% |
| ROCK/POP 2 | 44 | 34,9% |
| HARD ROCK 2.40 | 22 | 17,5% |
| DISCO/FUNK 2.80 | 2 | 1,6% |
| DANCE R'n'B 2.81 | 2 | 1,6% |
| RAP 2.82 | 3 | 2,4% |
| ELECTRO 2.83 | 3 | 2,4% |
| TRIP HOP 2.85 | 1 | 0,8% |
| FR ROCK 2.90 | 2 | 1,6% |
| CLASSIQUE 3 | 3 | 2,4% |
| CONTEMPORARY 4 | 1 | 0,8% |
| AMBIENT 450 | 4 | 3,2% |
| MUSIQUE DE FILM 520 | 4 | 3,2% |
| ENFANTS 7XX | 0 | 0% |
Wow, this is awesome! Out of the 366 albums I listened to, I loved 126 of them, which is 34.43%! Super! Let’s compare the data for the top 3 genres.
| GENRE | # LISTENED | % TOTAL MUSIC LISTENED | # LOVED | % TOTAL MUSIC LOVED |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROCK/POP 2 | 111 | 30,3% | 44 | 34,9% |
| JAZZ 1 | 44 | 12% | 19 | 15,1% |
| CF 099.2 | 41 | 11,2% | 9 | 7,1% |
| HARD ROCK 2.40 | 38 | 10,4% | 22 | 17,5% |
I loved 34.9% of rock/pop music, which is 4.6% more than the percentage of total rock/pop albums I listened to! I loved 15.1% of jazz music, which is 3.1% more than the percentage of total jazz music I listened to! I can clearly see that I prefer instrumental jazz. Chanson française didn’t work too well for me. I only loved 7.1%, which is 4.1% less than the percentage of total chanson française I listened to. It’s true, I don’t like contemporary chanson…. Hard rock/metal is not a surprise! I listened to so many good albums! OK, I will continue listening and see what 2025 brings! :)
Total number of albums listened in a year
This is the first year that I’ve collected data, so I only have data for 2024—I listened to 366 albums! Superb! I’m looking forward to seeing what the number will be for 2025. Will this data inspire me to listen to even more music, or will I listen less if I have more work? We will see!
Conclusion
I listened to so many albums this year, and I’m super happy! Should I set a challenge to try to listen to 400 albums? :D I discovered jazz music, and it’s so good! It’s such an interesting moment in my life, discovering new music I like and living it! I feel like a child again. I also feel more connected to the world through music. I will compare my listening stats with the circulation stats of the médiatheque to see which section I should give more attention to. But other than that, wow! What a trip!