My picture of a stereotypical teenager is the following: Riding on public transport with earbuds, listening to music. But: Do they listen consciously?
By “listening consciously” I mean following speech (e.g., podcasts) or music actively, not only to fill the void.

Some do this to get some sleep on a trip, canceling out the noise with more pleasant noise – you may call it music. For others it’s probably some kind of barrier to the outside world while being in public.

If there’s a germ of truth, does this only apply to teenagers? Certainly not! It seems to be present in every segment of society. Don’t get me wrong! I’m not against listening to music in the background and for fun. It just seems people start to lose the ability to listen consciously.

We are losing our hearing

Many people take refuge in headphones, but they turn big, public spaces like this, shared soundscapes, into millions of tiny, little personal sound bubbles. In this scenario, nobody’s listening to anybody.

Julian Treasure – TED Talk – 5 ways to listen better

In his TED talk “5 ways to listen better”, Sound consultant Julian Treasure asks us to pay attention to the sounds surrounding us. That’s true, but when it comes to music I furthermore listen in a different way.

I want to consume music in good quality. Either music that is recorded very well or driving me emotionally. Which doesn’t mean a song with a harsh sounding guitar solo is a bad thing, when it can evoke a good feeling.

This is totally subjective. On the technical side things are different.

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