Take an Album Walk By Clare Snyder

I resent the shuffle button. Although it may seem unimportant to most people, to me it holds great meaning. The shuffle button represents all that we have lost as a society: choosing depth over ease, appreciating artistic vision, and active, intentional music listening. The shuffle button disregards artistic intent, making listening mindless and transforming what used to be seen as a spiritual experience into background noise. However, the shuffle button is not to blame; society's newfound music listening culture is. 

Previous generations had listening habits that I envy. Listening to an album was a journey and an interactive experience that involved thought, whereas nowadays, music listening is half-hearted. In an age of distraction, many of us have lost the art of listening to a full album. I believe this has much to do with the increasing ease of quick dopamine hits and society's shortening attention spans. A 2025 study conducted by Iqra Tu Zahra in the Policy Journal of Social Science Review found that higher levels of social media use are shrinking our ability to

remain focused for a prolonged period of time. We no longer have the capacity to listen to the entirety of an album in one sitting. Instead, our generation would rather listen to snippets, capturing the catchiest parts and leaving the rest. 

Popular streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music have contributed to this generational downfall of fast music intake, creating playlists based on personal listening habits and always offering something to listen to next. Before the listener gets to process what they just heard, they are onto the next song and experience. There have been ongoing conversations about what this means for listeners. As writer Gregor Dobson described in a 2023 Wired piece, apps like TikTok and YouTube Music “Samples” (first introduced in 2023, but remain powerful in 2025) focus on providing users with short snippets of songs, discouraging them from experiencing albums in full, and instead promoting fractions. By doing so, they are quietly influencing us to value the amount of listening we do rather than how much we appreciate it. 

Music is meant to tell us something, and when we don’t open ourselves up to what albums are trying to tell us, we miss out on something unique. Albums ask us to pause and experience something new as a cohesive story. Each song serves a purpose to an album; it curates a narrative that gives you clues into the next song and continues the storytelling process, thus creating something whole. Imagine reading a book series out of order. It may still be a fun read, but you will never truly understand the real significance of what the author hopes for the reader. Music is the same. When we give little attention to what we are listening to, we lose time for introspection and sitting with the feelings music gives us. When we choose to listen absentmindedly, we close ourselves off from the opportunity to be moved, which is always a loss.

Some people may disagree with my argument, stating that shuffle makes finding new music easier. An example of this is Spotify's Smart Shuffle, which designs playlists based on what the listener seems to like. Journalist Paula Beaton noted in Online Tech Tips that users enjoy this feature because it makes new music easily accessible to them. I agree with this take and think there is a time and place for mindless listening. However, I argue that although easy music discovery can fuel instant gratification, it does not change the remarkable journey of listening to an album from start to finish. Listening to an album deeply requires full mental presence, which we do not always have time for. Both can coexist, but it is important to set aside time for active, deep listening to preserve the true value of music and what it can show you. 

The shuffle button represents changes in music listening culture, where convenience is valued over depth. Listening to albums such as “Preachers Daughter” by Ethel Cain, “Sling” by Clairo, and “Grace” by Jeff Buckley has been profound for me. When I have days where I am mindful of my lack of mental presence, I take what I call “album walks,” where I wander around Boulder, turn my headphones on, and listen to a record in full. I urge readers to step out of their comfort zone and be conscious of their musical consumption. Allow yourself to experience music as the immersive and beautiful journey it is meant to be. 

By Clare Snyder