... In describing his consumption behavior after having got an iPod, he said that his "music metabolism" increased.  Since having his collection digitized and easily available on the iPod, he listened to more 'deep tracks' that he hadn't listened to in a long time (courtesy of the shuffle function).  However, he soon got sick of his library of tracks and wanted to hear new/different music.

I think this is a widespread phenomenon.  Digital music players enable people to listen to more of their existing collection, but they soon get tired of it and want to listen to other stuff.   Music rental services like Rhapsody, Napster & YMU facilitate this.

I believe music rental as a concept is here to stay, that it will become a sizeable segment of the music consumption landscape and that it will increase the music metabolism of its users. One side effect is that indie labels & artists will gain exposure (since people will tire of the stuff they 'know'). If music rental becomes widespread, many artists and labels will make less money from recorded music and will have to rely on performed music and ancillary products, which I believe labels should get a piece of.

What other consequences have I missed from an increase in one's music metabolism?

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