The Answer is 4242

And while that sounds like something from the Hitchhiker's Guide, the question is "How many songs are in my iTunes library at the moment?

This was actually posed to me twice by students here at the home studio today; we were using the computer for play-alongs to go with their jazz improv studies, and they noticed that the library seemed pretty big (as does my collection of CD's, located on a shelf just to their left). I actually had to look to see how many songs I had, as that's not a number that I carry in my head.

Another number that's startling is 17.6; that's the number of days of music that are stored here. (To give you some perspective: If I'd left the computer at home on the Vermont trip and started iTunes, I'd still have over a week of music left to go when I returned...not that I'd want that kind of electric bill or anything.)

It's also startling to see how much music I've loaded in there recently. You may recall that I decided to listen to every song on my ITunes in order starting last fall. When that project was finished in February, I only had 1800 songs on there. I had no idea that I had more than doubled my capacity since then.

(Incidentally, it was funny just a minute ago to realize that Level 42 takes up quite a few of the 4242 songs. I've gotten very much into them again recently.)

How many songs are in your iTunes?