> it used to be the case not so many decades ago that you might only hear your favorite piece of music a dozen times in your lifetime. That depends greatly on

> it used to be the case not so many decades ago that you might only hear your favorite piece of music a dozen times in your lifetime. That depends greatly on the category of the music. If you are talking about a symphony, then certainly. But if it was a song you and your friends all liked, then you might have sung it often. Let's remember that music, particularly singing, used to be something that people did when they got together. That's what folk music originally was. See also "drinking songs", which were the music in bars before everyone got used to listening to top-notch musicians all the time, and collectively decided that ordinary people singing wasn't worth much. But today "folk music" gets performed on a stage. In the U.S., church meetings are pretty much the last remaining environment where large numbers of people regularly sing together, but it's fading even there. Sad, I think. (And, yes, I realize I have wandered from your point.)