How Much Is Too Much?

I am in awe of how some songs, pieces of music are inherently reinforcing for some and not others.  I think this speaks to how unique our experiences with music are, and by extension, how anything can be thought of as potentially reinforcing.  While I may not enjoy every genre of music, I appreciate the vast number of them out there and the growing variety of sounds musicians experiment with to create new genres.  The sources for reinforcement seem almost endless; and yet, at some point, a particular song or genre seems to fade away from our playlist.  This effect can be described as satiation: when over-exposure to an item, activity etc. changes its reinforcing effects.  Listen to a song, album or artist 'too many' times and you might lose interest.

Given the phenomena of satiation I am surprised that there isn't more of a variety on some radio stations.  It seems that there is this wave of the same 10 or so songs that no matter which station I put on, I am pretty much guaranteed to hear within the hour.  At some point in the wave these songs become aversive, and I turn the station or the radio off upon hearing any one of them (an example of negative reinforcement).  Not only am I satiating on these songs, but my 'turning the radio off' behaviour is increasing.  I cannot imagine the radio stations benefit from this type of listening behaviour, so there must be another source of reinforcement for them to keep their formula going.  While my radio listening habits may be effected by over-exposure of the songs they play, this over-exposure seems to be paying off for them (i.e., it is being reinforced).  I am guessing that these radio stations are on a fixed-ratio schedule of reinforcement where they get a pay-out depending on how many, or how often a song gets played.

Because of this (and other aversive stimuli radio stations seem to present themselves with/as), I embrace my mp3 player(s).  Variety, choice, immediate gratification, and if I get bored with a song, I'll have plenty more to choose from.  I may still satiate on a song, album or artist but at least there is another source of reinforcement next down on the playlist.