Expand your musical horizons by listening to a new album every day for a month
A Midpractical Modern Monthly Challenge :: #AlbumADay :: July 2022
Read on if…
- You listen to the same music all the time and ready to expand your playlists to some new artists and albums
- You want the steps, tips and suggestions to listen to a new album every day for a month
- You are in a creative rut and need some inspiration
Challenge Scale
Before you get started, here’s a brief overview of how much money, time, effort this challenge may take and how functional or fun it is.
Why This Challenge?
My June monthly challenge was to not watch TV for the month. During that time, I had a family roadtrip planned where I spent a total of 40 hours in a car and had to find something other than a screen to stare at. I started poking around on my Spotify and came across Beyonce’s Lemonade album, which at that point, had been out for a good 2 years and I had only ever heard what was played at parties or at spin class. Given that I had plenty of time to kill, I decided to listen to the album in its entirety.
MIND BLOWN ?
I know Beyonce is good, there’s no doubt about that. But listening to each song, in order of how the artist meant it to be listened, was a new experience for me. I am typically a top 40 hits kinda girl and only hear the singles. That, and broadway musicals are my jam. I don’t get out of my music comfort zone a whole lot.
The Challenge: An Album A Day
And so, as July approached, it became very clear to me what the challenge needed to be:
To expand my music horizons and get out of my on-repeat comfort zone, I will listen to a different album, from start to finish, every day.
#MonthlyChallenge
Album Challenge Checklist
To do this challenge, you don’t need to invest in too much, if anything at all.
- Something to listen to your music on – headphones, surround sound, car speakers, etc.
- Access to a music app like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc. (or you can go old school and listen to records, cassettes or CDs!). If you do not have access to or cannot afford to pay for a music service, check out your local library. You can rent out CDs there and many libraries now have digital content you can borrow.
- A forum to ask people for suggestions
- An app you can keep a list in or piece of paper to keep track of suggestions
Midpractical Tip – Free Music
Ready for the challenge? Here’s What You Do
This challenge is really easy to follow. Most of your time upfront is spent gathering recommendations and the remaining time is spent listening to music and discussing with friends.
1. Tell people about the challenge
Tell friends, family, neighbors, your grocery store cashier, a person sitting next to you on the bus – anyone who is willing to share their favorite album. Make sure they know you are looking for an album and not just a favorite artist or song (though if they provide that, you can pick a random album from that artist or throw in a few singles into your playlist). Make sure to keep track of all the suggestions, either adding to a playlist in real-time or writing down in a notebook or notes app.
2. Curate your playlist
Once you have a few recommendations (you’ll want 30 in total but don’t need them all at once), it’s time to start putting your playlist together on your music app. Or, if you are going the library route, take a week’s worth of music out at a time and/or put items not available on hold. I also found it helpful to create a calendar of what album I was listening to and when, to avoid over-listening to one genre too many days in a row.
Or you can skip this step and listen to my #AlbumADay playlist that I curated for this challenge.
3. Listen!
Now it’s time for the fun part – enjoying the music! I liked to start my day off with an album, so I could start with little distractions and really focus on the music. You could also listen during your commute to work or school, listen while working or cooking, or even listening in the shower. One word of warning – if you have kids and they are joining in on the #albumaday concert, make sure to check the rating on the album before blaring the beats.
Don’t forget to favorite/heart anything you end up liking so you can return to it later (and so the algorithm can serve you up similar music in the future).
4. Share
The best part about this challenge is that it gives you some new tunes, new perspective, and a topic for discussion with the people that recommended the music to you or just a fun conversation starter with new friends. Share what you liked, didn’t like, what it reminds you of, how it made you feel, the best time of the year or event or mood to listen to the music – chances are, you might inspire and enlighten someone else to listen and groove to the music!
Challenge Outcome
So did I successfully complete the challenge?
You bet I did. 27 hours and 38 minutes of new albums – check!
Challenge Highlights
The best part of this challenge was listening to artists I’ve never heard of and even some that I know, but hadn’t heard all of their songs. My favorite albums and artists of the challenge were:
- “New York Narcotic” by The Knocks
- “Hurts 2B Human” by P!nk
- “WE ARE” by Jon Batiste
- “Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil” by Diplo
- “The Joy of Music” by Ben Rector
After listening to the albums, it was fun to connect with the person who had recommended the album to share a new perspective on the album and hear theirs as well. It was also interesting to look at my Spotify statistics – still leaned towards pop/musicals, but at least it was new music!
Speaking of vinyl, check out the book “Booze and Vinyl” by Andre and Tenaya Darlington to pair your album listening with a cocktail. The Missionary’s Downfall cocktail was *chef’s kiss*.
Challenge Obstacles
This was a relatively easy challenge – the hard part was more in the planning for it than the actual doing of it. At the beginning of the month, I created a spreadsheet to make sure I had an album for each day of the month. I also wanted to be able to keep track of who recommended each album so I could discuss it with them during or after my listening session.
To make sure I didn’t run out time at the end of each day, I would start listening to the albums first thing in the morning as I was making coffee, taking the dog out, and reading through my feed. I did have to give up some morning reading time to listen to the album, but it was a welcome trade-off. I ended up doing a puzzle while listening to music instead!
Last but not least, if you are very particular about your music taste, there might be a few duds. I like to think I have a pretty open mind when it comes to music, so there were none that I completely dismissed, but there were a few I preferred less than others. The important part is to give it a shot – you never know until you try!
Your Turn – Time for your #MonthlyChallenge
You’ve got everything you need to get started on your album challenge! What are you going to listen to first? Share your monthly challenge on instagram and let me know what you’re listening to (don’t forget to tag @midpracticalmodern!)
bonus!
Here are some Spotify playlists to get you started on your own #AlbumADay challenge!
What is the Midpractical Challenge?
It is a challenge for a set amount of time that puts extra focus and emphasis on a specific task to complete, trying something new or overcoming an obstacle. These challenges show how midpractical decisions around money, time and energy can help us not only live, but thrive, in the middle of a modern world.
See what the latest challenge is and tag @midpracticalmodern with your own challenge progress!