Play it again, Sam!

[zvi]

How many times do you listen to a podfic? What affects your decision to keep and re-listen to a particular recording? If someone records something you've already listened to, are you willing to listen to the newer one? Is there a joy in repetition?

Comments

[paraka]

I tend to relisten to my favourite podfics all the time. When I first started listening to podfic, I had a boring cross referencing job and would listen all day long. Podfic wasn't nearly as plentiful back then so even podfics I didn't overly enjoy would be listened to more than once. Ones I loved would often be listened to about once a month. I can't tell you the number of times I've listened to Term of Service, Advantage, DADT Damyata Dayadhvam, The Best Things in Life are Free and I'm sure there are more.

Even now that podfic is more plentiful, I find myself constantly going back to favourites. I'm a very moody reader. Even though I have a ton of SPN podfics that I haven't listened to once, if I'm in the mood for Merlin, or J2, SPN just won't do. Or if I want something harlequin style, the fandom won't matter, but I'll stick with the fics I know fall into that category.

So for me, the story is probably the biggest factor is whether or not I listen to a podfic more than once however reader is a close second. There are a few whose stories I love, but I only listen to occasionally because I don't enjoy the reading of it. There's also the fact that some reader's tastes match very closely to mine, so even if I can't remember the story specifically, I might listen to something just because Penny or Juice817 read them.

As for new recordings of previously recorded fic. Well, I tend to download any podfic I come across that are in my fandoms. I think I would at least give the new recording a try. I would probably end up choosing which one to keep on my computer (the way I name files is fandom-title-author, so having more than one recording of a fic screws up that system) however, I could see myself deciding to keep both in some circumstances.

Is there a joy in repetition?
I think whether or not you relisten to podfic would be greatly influenced by whether or not you reread fics. If I find something I love, it takes a lot for me to get tired of it. Seriously, Things I Learned My Freshman Year of College and it's sequel are over 8 hours long and I've listened to them at least 20 times. When I first got into Merlin fandom I was listening to Lord Drake's Bequest at least once a month, sometimes multiple times a month.

I always enjoy going back to a beloved story. Combine that with really specific moods and the smaller variety of podfic, I don't think I could survive if I only listened to stories once. :)

[sally_maria]

It varies a lot - some I've listened to several times, others I haven't got round to yet. It's all about what fandom/story I'm in the mood for at the time and how long I have to listen.

I download podfic for pretty much any story I've read and enjoyed, and I keep them around, because I'll never know what I'm going to be in the mood for.

I happily download a new version of a story I already have, though I might decide to keep my favourite version rather than both of them.

I re-listen, in the same way as I re-read, when there are stories I enjoy. But because I tend to only download podfic of stories I already know I like, there's an even better hit rate.

[brimtoast]

But because I tend to only download podfic of stories I already know I like

This is interesting, since I almost exclusively listen to stories I haven't read yet.

I am thinking about why this is, and I think a lot of it comes down to fandom. The two fandoms I read most in are AI8 and bandom, and while I have listened to every AI8 podfic ever made and almost every bandom one, they don't nearly fill all the listening time that I have, so I end up branching out to fandoms where I have never read the actual text of any stories, like SGA or Supernatural.

I guess if SGA or Supernatural were my main fandoms that I read in, things would be very different.

[sally_maria]

I suspect some of it is because I just don't have that much time when I listen to podfic - it's not a daily or even a weekly thing for me. Then I'll go away or on a long journey and listen to a fair amount in a relatively short time. So I probably don't need as much to fill up the time I have available, and I'd rather not waste that time listening to something I don't know I'll like - I'm a pretty fast reader, so reading something that doesn't entirely work for me doesn't take nearly as long.

But yes, SGA and Merlin (my other main fandom at the moment), do have a lot of good podfic, plenty enough to keep me busy.

[darkemeralds]

I'm fairly new to podfic, so grano salis, but so far I've never re-listened, even to a podfic I've adored, because there's just so much out there!

And so far, I haven't encountered a new and different recording of a fic I've listened by another reader, but if it was a fic I loved, and if I had any quibbles at all with the first, I'd definitely give the second a listen.

[brimtoast]

I re-listen to podfic more often than I re-read stories. There are some I've listened to 5–10 times, which is a lot of repetition for me. Whether I put on something new or an old favorite will depend on my reasons for listening at that particular time.

Advantages of a new podfic:
-Keeps my brain engaged with a new story
-Gives me a chance to discover a new reader or a new favorite by an already-loved reader
-More exciting, because I don't yet know what's going to happen

Advantages of an old favorite:
-Very emotionally soothing, like having an old friend saying comforting things in my ear
-I can zone in and out of the story and still know what's going on and be engaged during the times I *am* listening
-It's always a story/reader combo that worked really well for me, so even though I'm not discovering something new, the chances of adoring it are much higher than with a new podfic

Basically, if I want to be entertained/occupied, I will usually listen to a new one, and if I want to be comforted, I will listen to an old one. Like, if I'm having a really bad day or if I want something to listen to as I drift off to sleep, old one. Assuming all is going fairly well with my life, my default while travelling from place to place or doing chores is a new one.

Obviously both story and reader are big factors in what makes me love a podfic and keep it around for future re-listening, but for me I definitely feel more attached to the reader. I have folders on my iPhone for Aceles podfics, Aphelant podfics, Nny podfics, Fiercelydreamed podfics, etc. And when I am deciding what I want to listen to, I will figure out which reader I'm in the mood for first, and then from there decide which story.

I think I would listen to a new version of a story I'd already heard, if only to see whether the different interpretation gave me any new insights into the story. I'd be much less likely to open my heart to a recording and keep it around for multiple listenings if there was already a recording of that same story that I loved, though.

[aethel]

I relisten to podfic all the time. I like to use longer podfics to help me fall asleep, so I can listen to them over a period of several nights.... This doesn't work so well with podfics I haven't heard before; I either stay awake too late to find out what happens next or doze off and then lose the thread of the story.