...

[Philo]

...

[Karl Henning]

My entertainment is never simple 

[North Star]

I don't like listening to music because I want to stretch my ears - I like stretching my ears because I like music.

[some guy]

Dear Karl and North Star,

Way to make me redundant!

Love,

Michael

(But seriously, redundant!! Hahahahahaha.)

[EigenUser]

Interesting question. Reminds me that I still need to answer my own "Why do you like your favorite composers?" question.

I listen to music for a few different reasons. I'll give examples for each (of course, these are just select few).
1) Pure entertainment -- e.g. Gershwin "An American in Paris", Ligeti PC, Ravel "Bolero", Messiaen "Turangalila-Symphonie", Schumann quadruple horn concerto, Haydn symphonies, Bartok PCs or CFO
2) Emotional connection -- e.g. Ligeti "Clocks and Clouds", Bartok "Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta", Ravel D&C , Debussy "La Mer" and "Sirenes", Dvorak 9, Feldman, Schoenberg CS1, Messiaen ""
3) Intellectual enjoyment -- Debussy "Jeux", Ligeti "Melodien", also includes exploring things like Boulez, Stockhausen, and Webern

Actually, many of the pieces listed above could fit into more than one category.

[Karl Henning]

Actually, many of the pieces listed above could fit into more than one category.

Hence:

My entertainment is never simple 

For instance, as entertaining as I undoubtedly find the Haydn symphonies, e.g., they also engage my musical intellect.

And doesn't emotional connection overlap with entertainment?

Nor have I satisfactorily determined how intellect and emotion (different faculties, to be sure) could be hermetically separated;  not in terms of musical apperception, at any rate.

[Ken B]

It drowns out the voices.

[Karl Henning]

It drowns out the voices.

Don't you wish.

[not edward]

I honestly think my best answer is "because it's music." Anything else is just a post hoc rationalization and not to be trusted.

[Karl Henning]

I honestly think my best answer is "because it's music." Anything else is just a post hoc rationalization and not to be trusted.

The ring of truth.

[Todd]

Enjoyment first, enjoyment second, enjoyment third.  Exposure to new aural experiences, as well, and the pleasure derived from the quest to find the right recording or live performance of specific works where the music, performer(s), and mood all intersect to create an intellectual and emotional sweet spot.

[jochanaan]

Because I must.  There's an addiction there that I have no wish to break and seems, far from harming me, to do me good.

[Moonfish]

Echoes and reflections of worlds and minds of the past. That is one of my many whys....

[Ken B]

Echoes and reflections of worlds and minds of the past. That is one of my many whys....

Poetry ain't getting you off the hook Fish, for this full price Graupner binge.

[Jay F]

Music is where the joy is.

[Szykneij]

I listen to music for its affective qualities. It touches my emotions. It makes me feel.

[Moonfish]

It drowns out the voices.

Wait! Aren't you listening to Gothic Voices...  ?

[EigenUser]

Wait! Aren't you listening to Gothic Voices...  ?

No, he's referring to the ones in his head.

[Ken B]

No, he's referring to the ones in his head.

Do you hear them too?
They like me better.

[Mookalafalas]

To seduce women. It drives them crazy, especially HIP baroque and early music.
Warning: do not play Vivaldi's flute concertos when you are alone with a nubile young female unless you have a highly robust libido