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In this article, Tessa will talk about how to better connect to your music.
Reestablish connection to music
Reestablish connection to music
By Tessa Hager
By Tessa Hager
Near the end of September, I came across a New York Times article claiming that we would enjoy our music more if we stopped streaming it. Upon coming across the headline, I assumed the author meant to buy physical copies, such as vinyls and CDs, so that listening to music would be more interactive, but no. The author of the article was trying to convince readers to purchase their music on Music, formally known as iTunes, which is similar to a streaming service. If someone is going to go through the trouble of purchasing music rather than getting their favorite songs for free, why would they want to still own it on a digital platform? There are more ways than one to listen to music, and no, they are not variations of listening to music on your phone.
On Christmas 2021, I was given a record player and three of my then-favorite albums on vinyl. Since then, I have steadily grown my vinyl collection from three to 12. Owning vinyls has allowed me to interact with my music more. Rather than hitting shuffle on Spotify and calling it good, vinyls compel me to pay attention to the songs I am listening to. Since vinyl records can be spendy, they also urge me to love my music. With the prices being higher than that of CDs, I make sure I truly love an album before I buy it on vinyl. According to K&B Audio, a retailer of audio products, “Unlike digital formats, vinyl records capture the audio in an analog form, resulting in a warmer, more authentic sound.” Since many classic musicians only released their albums on vinyl, owning and listening to vinyl records can give you a sense of connection to the history of music. Going through the process of unwrapping a new vinyl record and placing it on the record player can evoke an appreciation for the artistry and work that goes into creating music.
Photo Credit: BBC
Photo Credit: Flickr
While there is a positive side to physically owning your music, there are also downsides that streaming services do not have. With CDs, you can easily drop them and they get scratched like a DVD. Vinyls should not be touched except for on the edge, which makes it difficult to get them in and out of their sleeve, which leads to dropping them and getting them scratched. Cassette tapes can become unraveled if you do not eject them properly and never work again, leading to wasted money if you decide to replace them. Streaming services such as Spotify have none of that since they are all digital. However, they have advertisements between songs and vinyls do not. Streaming offers a free version, with ads, but also offers a subscription that varies between services. Spotify’s subscription used to cost $9.99, but they recently upped the price by a dollar. With physical copies of your music, there is no worry of inflation once you have already bought it.
There are pros and cons on every side of listening to music. Whether you want to connect to the history of music and end up scratching a vinyl, or you have to either listen to ads or pay money for a streaming service, there is always good and bad. Overall, I enjoy collecting vinyl records and using streaming while on-the-go to connect with my favorite albums.
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