Being a music sponge is immense fun, but it also comes with challenges. Everywhere we read, look, listen, or talk music becomes a source of new sounds. And there’s only so much we can soak up before we’re saturated and some spills back out.
If you’re like other folks with this problem, you’ve probably found random notes in your phone, screenshots of album covers or reviews, bookmarks for Best Albums of the Year lists, threads in internet forums, Reddit links, favorited playlists you don’t remember, saved social media posts, and other scattered reminders for stuff you hope to check out.
Most of us can hardly absorb even a portion of our discoveries. We get caught up in the excitement of the hunt — finding the time to listen is always more complicated than encountering things we want to hear. And then there’s the problem of where to stash and organize the loot. We can’t just jam all that stuff on our digital music shelves unheard!
I mean, we could… We’ve done that, of course, but we always feel a bit dyspeptic when making a complete mess of our collections. (inner voice cries: NOT AGAIN?! I just spent a week cleaning up the chaos from last time!) Or there are the epic playlists we create for this stuff—On Deck 2023, NeuJazz2Do, Classical Conundrums, Rhythm Abuse, etc.—but rarely ever play.
If any of this sounds remotely familiar, we’ve got a solution you’ll love! It’s called Listen Later. Think of Listen Later as a vault for the music nuggets you unearth while exploring for new sounds. It’s available in both Roon & ARC — and ready to swing into action wherever music inspiration or excitement strikes next.
From scattered notes to a sonic sanctuary
Listen Later is perfect for screening new discoveries before moving them to your Roon library — or for dusting off forgotten gems in your collection. You can add albums, tracks, and artists, making Listen Later a revue of coming attractions for your listening queue.
Listen Later prioritizes recently added unplayed music, providing instant access to must-hear sounds, whether you’re at home or listening on the go with ARC. Listen Later also maintains a roster of saved music you’ve played — where you can add it to your library, put it back in the queue, or remove it with a single click.
Create your itinerary, getting started with Listen Later
- Add music to your Listen Later lineup in Roon by clicking the L.L. icon to the right of the Play Now button on album and artist pages
- In ARC, the icon is located at the top of those pages
- Use the context menu (three dots menu) in Roon and ARC when adding individual tracks
- Enjoy easy access to your Listen Later selections from the sidebar in Roon or the Roon/ARC home pages.
- Fine-tune your Listen Later preferences under Settings
- Collect, listen to, and indulge yourself with new or neglected favorites.
Power moves, making the most of Listen Later
Do you have a slew of unplayed albums you’ve compulsively added to your library that you’d like to move to Listen Later? Here’s how.
- Go to your albums page and open the Focus tool
- Find the ADDED IN THE LAST column and select a filter
- Find the PLAYED IN THE LAST column and select a filter
- Click the Played in the last… tab above the Focus columns to invert the selection and display unplayed albums (the tab will turn red)
- Select the albums you’d like to move
- Use the context menu at the top of the page to add the albums to Listen Later
- If desired, open Listen Later, select the albums you moved, and use the context menu to Remove them from your library
Want to add Listen Later items to the listening queue quickly? It’s easy!
- Go to your Listen Later page
- Select one or more albums or tracks in your list
- Use the Play Now pull-down menu to shuffle, add next, queue, or play them immediately.
- Tip: you can also perform other functions for multiple selections from the context menu.
What if you’re in the middle of listening to a mind-blowing new discovery but need to head out the door and wish you could swiftly pick up where you left off? No problem!
- Open your queue
- Select the tracks you want to take along
- Use the context menu to add them to Listen Later
- Open Listen Later in ARC and groove on
Worried that other Roon listeners in your home will sully your Listen Later list? Don’t be; each listener profile has its own Listen Later lineup. Your saved sounds will always be ready and waiting whenever you want to enjoy them.
Final impressions, where music discoveries become listening adventures
Whether you’re an insatiable musical explorer or simply someone who wants to be more intentional about discovering new sounds, Listen Later transforms those scattered “must hear this” moments into an organized journey of discovery. No more lost recommendations, hoarded and forgotten bookmarks, or chaotic playlists — just a clean, simple way to collect musical possibilities until you can give them your full attention.
Think of Listen Later as your travel itinerary for touring exotic sounds, an unexplored land of compositional curiosities, a nominees list to your personal hall of fame, or a private hideaway that preserves the pristine landscapes of your collection — one that brings order to inspiration and excitement until you have time to properly indulge it. After all, discovering great music shouldn’t feel like checking items off an errand list — it should be as enjoyable as the listening itself. Now, it can be.
Ready to start building your collection of future favorites? Your Listen Later vault awaits…
Want to create your own personalized audio adventure? Start your sonic safari now with a free 14-day Roon trial!