I have a similar problem, although not the same. I have a whole lot of stuff on my iPod (about 29000 songs at the moment), and understandably I haven't learnt them all off by heart. For me, though, this is a good thing, as on the off chance I listen on shuffle or listen to something I haven't for ages, there is usually a hidden gem. I suppose it keeps me interested, as I am in a constant state of searching for new music, or at least music new to me, call it ADD for tunes.

Recently I've been deciding on 15 artists to listen to a week (predominantly), and this gives a nice introduction to some of the more obscure stuff that I may have forgotten about having listened to once.

But it really depends on how you like your music. If you like to analyse and listen to over and over again, then the method I use won't have the same effect. It's up to you, really. Essentially it boils down to, do you like the music you're downloading or not, and if you do, then why not revisit it occasionally rather than all the time? Remember, Pavement B-sides and Ali Farka Toure live tracks are for life, not just for Christmas!

I have an ipod with 27,000 songs on it. 10 years ago I could probably have hummed pretty much all of the tunes that made up my record collection, while now I probably know 1 in 10.
On the plus side the ease of access to new music means that we no longer invest anything in duff albums on the basis of a good single. I spent far too much of my late twenties trying to get in to Babybird and Space albums. The downside is that I can't remember the last time that I really got to know an album in such a way that it became a significant landmark of a particular period of my life. Had 3 Feet High and Rising, Doolittle, The Stone Roses, Strangeways Here We Come, Parklife, Ok Computer and The Coral been released post Ipod, then those particular masterpieces would have been chopped up and dispersed on an endless shuffle...

Have you got an iPhone or iPod Touch Paul? Is so swopping your emusic subscription for a Spotify Premium one might be a worthwhile move. You will still have access to a huge catalogue of stuff on your MP3 player ... but you can stream what you like, when you like, rather than having to choose the specific 90 tracks every month or so.
I do most of my listening on Spotify which does mean, of course, that I am neglecting CDs I have bought or borrowed and ripped into iTunes, some of the really good radio shows that there are out there, and, sadly, the Now Hear This CDs. I have a huge iTunes playlist of past Word covers CDs which I rarely seem to get round to investigating, which is a great shame!
It is a nice problem to have though. I don't have any real nostalgia for the years when I would spend £60-70 a month on CDs, many of which were bought on the hoof and I would soon regret shelling out for.
I think the key is to always give yourself that couple of hours a day of quality, fully-engaged listening rather than just playing stuff endlessly on a loop in the background.

It's interesting how the whole 'music-saturation point' discussion is cropping up a lot over the last month or so.

I was pretty much in the same boat with eMusic etc, and had almost decided to do what you describe - just buy odd albums that I really want after previewing on spotify or elsewhere.

The more I looked into that solution however, the more I realised that most of the albums I would have ended up buying over the last year or so were on eMusic - and since I had an old-style annual account (90 tracks a month at around 13p each) I let it renew in December.
I'm going to be cutting down on the other sources instead - particularly physical formats - CDs are going the way of Vinyl as far as I'm concerned (and for me, that's a GOOD thing).

I definitely want to spend more time listening to the albums I get this year though, last year I struggled to pick an end of year 'best of' because I simply hadn't heard a lot of albums enough to decide.
My half-hearted New Year's Resolution is to start walking to work - more time with the headphones on and a vague attempt at getting more exercise. Plus there's a couple of decent pubs I can 'pass' on the way home.

I reached music saturation point a long time before mp3s came along. I think it probably came about the age of 21, which would roughly mark the point that I could no longer remember every record I owned, and certainly began to own things I'd never properly played... And when I later started writing about music, that accelerated exponentially, to the point now where I get five albums plus every day.....

And yes, of course on occasion it gets to the point where you become completely snowblind and can't work out what's what any more and it's all a bit much. But those days are rare for me - mainly because I know that the real gems will still out. No matter how much I listen to there will be that Ali Farka Touré or Burial or Kathryn Williams or Robert Plant track or album that finds its way into my "sit down and listen to" list. Obviously I'm lucky because work doesn't get in the way of listening: work frequently IS listening, in fact. But anecdotal evidence says to me that people of all ages still have albums and songs that are vital parts of the fabric of their life no matter how much other stuff they may have on their hard drives.

The thing is: there has ALWAYS been too much information for one mind to process available if you want it. We have always filtered almost everything we perceive out, it's one of the most basic functions of rationality. We just learn different ways of doing it as culture changes.

...is that your current subscription plan is phenomenally good value and, as you say, completely unavailable now. I get 75 downloads a month for my £14.99 - that would cost me £24.99 if I were to sign up today.

The closest currently available plan would cost £13.99 a month, which gives you a measly 35 downloads a month.

So if you ever decide to go back to eMusic - it'll cost you a (relatively) pretty packet to get anything close to your customary download levels.

and I cancelled my emusic subscription. I just wasn't getting to listen to the things I downloaded. I was even finding it difficult to use up my downloads every month. Best part of a year on, I haven't missed it.

I have my own angst about too much music, a variant on the ones we've heard to date...

In my very early listening days, when I could afford about one album a month, I'd often not like an album on first hearing, but I'd paid over £2 for it, so I'd listen again, and again and again. It would sometimes happen after more than a dozen listenings, it would 'click'. Some of the albums I discovered that way are among my top ten to this day.

It's years since I gave any music that much attention, and I often wonder about all the potential joy that's passing me by, having been only half listened to, once.

And then you discover that other genres, previously dismissed, also reward some dedicated listening - classical, country, tango, mento - and the angst is multiplied.

Wish I hadn't thought about this: I'm depressed now.

A while back I gently decided that I would return to active listening. So I decide on an album and play it. I listen to the arrangments and lyrics. Ipods and spotify and easily accessible collections of music have resulted in a musical gluttony and like the real besetting sin it leads to a reduction of genuine appreciation. Once we accept that we will never access all of the music that we might conceivable enjoy it gets easier to let it go. I listen to new things when i go running or I shuffle things to see hwat might turn up. You have done the right thing, Paul.

Sometimes, I get sick of the shuffle and yearn to hear an LP in the "right" order.

I signed up for a freebie batch of emusic downloads, downloaded the 40 songs, then cancelled. That was a couple of months back, haven't listened to them yet! One of the LPs I downloaded was kevin Coyne's Legless in Manilla. Before I listened to it, a copy turned up on ebay, so I bought that instead! Personally, would always much rather have the physical product...