I am not an audiophile.
But I love vinyl.
The generation below me is, in my opinion, ignorant to the old ways. The self obsorbed, be yourself generation, who ironically enough attaches itself to brands and trends, have no realization to the sound of warmth. The digital age is something that I’m still getting used to and by God, I got my first Twitter account a few days ago. Digital music has changed the way you listen to music. You can take it with you where you take your phone nowadays, and it’s convenient. Going for a run? Check. Want to be anti-social at the grocery store? Check. Want to annoy everyone on the bus at 7am with your mind bending trance/ house “music” blaring from your headphones? Check. It’s all well and good. I can bob my head with the rest of them. I look like a human version of a hungry, hungry hippo. The digital age has made playlists and singles a huge deal. Artists can become overnight sensations due to YouTube or just plain smart social media marketing. People can buy only the songs they hear on the radio and not the rest of the album. Wasted potential. How do you find new things when you only do the infinite repeat? I don’t know. Or maybe the single is a global reflection of the attention span of our younger generation. Short, sweet, then on to the next thing. Bam, bam, bam. Playlists are the best examples of people just listening to the singles. One after another, hit after hit, with no new material unless Ryan Seacrest announced it on the noise box. Go forth and find new music on your own, my child!
I’m being a hypocrite though. I am guilty of having a playlist. But mine is vinyl. Playlist one is ‘side A’.
Needle down and and wait. Here it comes. Sweet, sweet audio gold. If I were to make a comparison between digital and vinyl it would be this. If digital music is like pouring a glass of ice cold water into a clear glass, than vinyl is like pouring your favourite hot coffee into that nice mug you got at market that you actually enjoy. If digital music is like that pond set in a autumn setting, then vinyl is the lake in the middle of summer. It’s warm. It’s comforting. It makes you want to sit down and enjoy it. Hell, even the weight of the pressing is nice to hold. You can’t even hold digital. And CD’s are too easily scratched. True fact. Properly stored vinyl will actually outlast digital for being a media storage device. Crazy. I find vinyl to be that classic way of listening to music because it makes you listen to the rest of the album. Discover the rest of the artists talents and really find the structure or background of who they are and what they are trying to convey to the listener. A single is just a moment in time, but in the rest of the album, the true story is told.
I’m not the only one on this bandwagon though. Vinyl record sales last year were up by at least two and a half percent. That’s a huge increase. People are starting to see the value in vinyl. Even HMV is starting to put pressing on their shelves. What’s nice about that is that vinyl sales are usually generated through mom and pop shops. Local businesses seeing an boost in sales. So people of the world. I emplore you. Please stop downloading music. Please stop buying CDs. Go down to your local record shop and find your favourite artist. Pick up that fantastic looking record. Support local. And don’t worry. They usually come with digital download codes so you can still walk the dog, while listening to that ice cold digital.
So kids, take those Beats by Dre, and plug into a record player, and read a book.
Please.
Cronkstylings 