�
I give in.
�
As the diehard album enthusiast I am, to this day I have damned mp3-players.
I have embraced and defended the ritual and the good feeling it is, to search through the shelf for the right CD, take it out of its cover and put it in the CD-player.
�
I still believe that having the opportunity, at any given time, to jump from album to album in a couple of seconds will increase the focus on individual songs, and thereby possibly in the long run destroy the joy it is to listen to a great, whole album.
�
When I sat down with my producer to decide which of my songs would be on the album, we made sure that each of them would have their function in the big picture, and that all of them together would represent a whole. The record should have just the right length, and the dynamics and the variation should make each of the songs shine.
�
It�s like that with all my favourite records. They are not just a small collection of music, but the total adventure.
�
Still:
�
After two months on tour, about twenty shows down, and about the same number of records full of scratches, now I�ve had to swallow the bitter pill.
�
In a small bus with eight seats and the same number of persons, not much is required to make the CD-player and the CD-file go their separate ways (almost without exception, actually). My dear CD�s have had the unfortunate tendency, over and over again, to get stuck between the seats, go playing on the floor between sand and grass, and finally ending up in another persons CD-file.
�
Add chocolate fingers, five food stops a day, and a lot of �Hey, you just have to listen to this!�, then stir the pot, and be convinced! A mp3-player is actually a necessity on tour.
�
The outcome is that the positive sides of my new toy outweigh the negative ones. From now on I can take my favourite music everywhere, while my collection can rest safely at home until the tour is over.�
�
Listening to the whole album, in the end it�s mostly about self discipline. In addition, now I have the perfect place to put the new songs I write when we travel around.
�
What remains to be seen is whether I am allowed to keep it for myself or not.