Where would we be without our mp3 players? They get us through our twice daily trips to and from work, making the grimey public transport bearable. They are tiny enough to be our travel buddy, be it across the city or the world. They can make us forget that we are miserable on a cold rainy winters morning or become our soundtrack to a fabulous evening out. The problem with mp3 players is that if you don't add to them constantly, you may find yourself in a musical rut. Like walking the same path to work everyday- even the most beautiful park can become a mundane part of the journey.

Music should be an everyday celebration of life and a companion that understands when there is not so much to celebrate. You love songs that resonate you for one reason of another; the comfort of knowing that someone else somewhere in the world once wrote words & melody that can create a mood in you now is often what you need in your day. There are some simple ways that you can let your music collection grow and change as you do so that you never grow tired of the songs you love!

A healthy habit to develop is that of carrying around a notebook and pen. While this is good for more reasons than one, an advantage of always having a pen handy means that whenever you hear a fabulous song: be it in the supermarket, a muffled melody from someone elses headphones on the train or in a store you happen to be perusing during your lunch break; you can make a note to download to your mp3 player later on. Even if you don't know the title or the band, scribble down a few lyrics and google it later on (there is very few queries google can not solve). Theres a new song for your playlist.

Don't be afraid to ask friends what they're listening to, it's a great way to open your ears to some musical love that you might never have thought to listen to on your own. What are friends for, if not the share the love? Music or otherwise!

Check out your Myspace "friend" requests. If you're like most people, it's probably been a while since you've logged into myspace, so 2006, right? It's all about Facebook now, BUT, myspace is still good for something, the bands. So, if you can still recall your myspace password, log in and take a look at some of the bands that want to be your friend. They could all be the same old stuff you've heard a million times over OR you could find your new favourite band, or at least an interesting new group with a few catchy songs. SO before clicking 'reject', have a listen.

Revisit your CD collection, or steal from your older brother/sister/cousin/step-brothers mother's collections. Chances are it's been quite some time since you gave your cd's some play. After all, who buys CDs when you've got iTunes? We are very much in the grips of what is a 'now generation', enthralled with immediacy. So dust off the CDs, cringe at some of the stuff you once wasted a hard earned $30 on and rediscover the gems that were worth every penny. Burn them onto your mp3 player or laptop and relive the old school music love.