You won’t believe it, but I’m going to pick up second hand audio installation just today and then I’m going to ‘burn’ my LP’s, tapes and cd’s that I once have ‘ripped’ to put on mp3 player. I’m going back to physical media too for all the reasons you have mentioned. In a couple of weekt time, I’ll cancel apple music. This is last step. No amazon or internet shopping in general. Only for food in local shops. Counter culture, of course! 😄
Ha – this is amazing. Yeah I've taken some time before canceling my streaming subscription too, but the transition was surprisingly easy and now I've lived without a streaming account for more than six months.
No Amazon or internet shopping – that would be another ambition, but it's quite hard where I live now, because the next stores are 25 kilometers away and there's literally no public transport available. I think in the city it feels more doable and realistic.
I mean gen x in general was early adopter of the internet. Me included. I was 25 in 1995 when I got my first PC and a 24,4 k modem. And have been loving it. I have even made a profession out of it. But the internet as a whole, is broken. Owned by the evil, used for surveillance and manipulation. I’m off for as much as possible. Next step will be to create anonymous account, also here, i think. Just need to get my hardware and software straight too….
But essentially it plots a similar path, outlining my own realisations around my music habits. What it does NOT cover is that I eventually moved back to vinyl and CDs, purely because I enjoy that "deep listening" process. CDs have been fun to buy too, as I can find, for example, 6 of PJ Harvey's best albums for £1 each at my local charity shop. So unlike vinyl, which has now priced out all the heads I know who were keenly buying it still, CDs feel more accessible, and more empowered to deliver joy back by making you just listen to a whole album again without skipping about from one song to the next.
That's a great article as well Darren, good points made in there – and that was already five years ago! I think it was roughly the same time when I started doubting the streaming system. Around 2020/21, I started buying digital music again.
As for buying CDs second hand – this is a bit of a double-edged sword, isn't it? Sure, from a sustainability standpoint it's great, and it's also just economically wise as a consumer decision. And I do it as well. But if we're looking to support the artists and their independent ecosystems, it doesn't help them much I suppose. So what we probably need to do is buy PJ Harvey's new CD/vinyl and go to her concert, AND listen to her older albums via second hand CDs or even streaming services.
Being a conscious music fan is extremely hard these days because of the various dynamics at hand – and the actual impossibilty to factor in all of them!
Yes it was quite interesting to read that article again now in 2024 and reflect on what, if anything, has changed.
In terms of buying second hand CDs - I mean, I am still buying new music a fair bit, and in general I just take the view that I do spend money on artists I love, be that new music, merch, tickets etc, so I am comfortable with that.
The thing I am finding more amusing is that I'm leaning more and more towards CDs, which gets quite funny when you realise just how niche that is in 2024. Soooo many albums aren't even pressed on CD now.
And it wasn't really a "CDs are better" thing so much as it just being an issue of cost and storage. My office (which is my listening space too) is spilling over with vinyl, and the CDs just use less space. And, when you can for example buy Prince's Sign O The Times album on vinyl for about £40, or buy it on CD for about £12, the savings are not small. I can literally buy 3x as much music on CD as I can on vinyl, which on some level feels quite absurd to me.
Yeah that is a funny thing indeed. I just love CDs, have always loved them. They sound amazing. Their size is super practical. They last relatively long, and they're relatively affordable. Sure, they might not be as much of a status symbol as some overpriced limited vinyl edition. But I guess I'm too old to care for that.
I'm seeing more and more small labels going back to pressing CDs and/or tapes, also because the lead times (and costs) for pressing vinyl are so outrageous.
Yeah the lead times are absurd and the pricing in general is bordering on unworkable now. Here in the UK we had one of the bigger underground music distributors go under last year, and I think that shone a light on the fact that contrary to popular opinion, selling vinyl isn't easy at all. It is if you're Taylor Swift, but asking people to drop, say £20 on a 12" single becomes a really tough ask.
So yes, no shock that CDs might be next to get a resurgence. And I'm totally fine with that as I share all your views on why they're good. And yes, like you I'm also past that point of caring much what others think of me relative to what format I buy. Life's too short for that nonsense, LOL.
Great piece Stephan & fine thoughts Darren. I am in accord. I have a draft of an article I wrote a few months ago on how I have really enjoyed collecting used CDs over the past few years again. I need to take a look at it, revise and then post it up. I know you said Stephan, that for you, its not about Discogs, which I get... but the cool thing now is how much rare, cheap out of print stuff I do find used because people ditched their CD collections. I think this song by Jeffrey Lewis (who was in my neighborhood this past week) sums it up great:
That said... I still do buy new music on LP and CD, and I don't mind buying albums on bandcamp where I get the download to support the artist. It might not be slow per se, as it is still somewhat related to streaming. But its convenient when I am making mixes for Imaginary Stations or when I fill in for Trash Flow Radio. Being able to burn a mix CD to take to the radio station is still my preferred way to go...
I never was one of those people who had a binder full of CDs... but with limited space, I'm thinking that might be worth doing now as my shelf space approaches its limits!
Excellent reflections! If you want to realize how different the experience of listening to most of the music streaming services versus the real stuff (on CD or whatever other preferred physical format), you can listen to this, which is what different perceptual encoders take from the music out. In addition, let's consider that we can listen to music using the whole body (ears + skin sensors), and how those music encoders impoverish some of this physical experience (as they take some of the note attacks' energy out): https://youtu.be/DwpS7gOt554?t=156
You won’t believe it, but I’m going to pick up second hand audio installation just today and then I’m going to ‘burn’ my LP’s, tapes and cd’s that I once have ‘ripped’ to put on mp3 player. I’m going back to physical media too for all the reasons you have mentioned. In a couple of weekt time, I’ll cancel apple music. This is last step. No amazon or internet shopping in general. Only for food in local shops. Counter culture, of course! 😄
Ha – this is amazing. Yeah I've taken some time before canceling my streaming subscription too, but the transition was surprisingly easy and now I've lived without a streaming account for more than six months.
No Amazon or internet shopping – that would be another ambition, but it's quite hard where I live now, because the next stores are 25 kilometers away and there's literally no public transport available. I think in the city it feels more doable and realistic.
I mean gen x in general was early adopter of the internet. Me included. I was 25 in 1995 when I got my first PC and a 24,4 k modem. And have been loving it. I have even made a profession out of it. But the internet as a whole, is broken. Owned by the evil, used for surveillance and manipulation. I’m off for as much as possible. Next step will be to create anonymous account, also here, i think. Just need to get my hardware and software straight too….
Great article Stephan, and one I can certainly relate to. Back in 2019 I wrote this piece, and reading it back today I'm quite tempted to repost it on Network Notes as a "From the Vaults" kind of archive repost: https://themusicnetwork.com/music-streaming-services-are-gaslighting-us-op-ed/
But essentially it plots a similar path, outlining my own realisations around my music habits. What it does NOT cover is that I eventually moved back to vinyl and CDs, purely because I enjoy that "deep listening" process. CDs have been fun to buy too, as I can find, for example, 6 of PJ Harvey's best albums for £1 each at my local charity shop. So unlike vinyl, which has now priced out all the heads I know who were keenly buying it still, CDs feel more accessible, and more empowered to deliver joy back by making you just listen to a whole album again without skipping about from one song to the next.
That's a great article as well Darren, good points made in there – and that was already five years ago! I think it was roughly the same time when I started doubting the streaming system. Around 2020/21, I started buying digital music again.
As for buying CDs second hand – this is a bit of a double-edged sword, isn't it? Sure, from a sustainability standpoint it's great, and it's also just economically wise as a consumer decision. And I do it as well. But if we're looking to support the artists and their independent ecosystems, it doesn't help them much I suppose. So what we probably need to do is buy PJ Harvey's new CD/vinyl and go to her concert, AND listen to her older albums via second hand CDs or even streaming services.
Being a conscious music fan is extremely hard these days because of the various dynamics at hand – and the actual impossibilty to factor in all of them!
Yes it was quite interesting to read that article again now in 2024 and reflect on what, if anything, has changed.
In terms of buying second hand CDs - I mean, I am still buying new music a fair bit, and in general I just take the view that I do spend money on artists I love, be that new music, merch, tickets etc, so I am comfortable with that.
The thing I am finding more amusing is that I'm leaning more and more towards CDs, which gets quite funny when you realise just how niche that is in 2024. Soooo many albums aren't even pressed on CD now.
And it wasn't really a "CDs are better" thing so much as it just being an issue of cost and storage. My office (which is my listening space too) is spilling over with vinyl, and the CDs just use less space. And, when you can for example buy Prince's Sign O The Times album on vinyl for about £40, or buy it on CD for about £12, the savings are not small. I can literally buy 3x as much music on CD as I can on vinyl, which on some level feels quite absurd to me.
Yeah that is a funny thing indeed. I just love CDs, have always loved them. They sound amazing. Their size is super practical. They last relatively long, and they're relatively affordable. Sure, they might not be as much of a status symbol as some overpriced limited vinyl edition. But I guess I'm too old to care for that.
I'm seeing more and more small labels going back to pressing CDs and/or tapes, also because the lead times (and costs) for pressing vinyl are so outrageous.
Yeah the lead times are absurd and the pricing in general is bordering on unworkable now. Here in the UK we had one of the bigger underground music distributors go under last year, and I think that shone a light on the fact that contrary to popular opinion, selling vinyl isn't easy at all. It is if you're Taylor Swift, but asking people to drop, say £20 on a 12" single becomes a really tough ask.
So yes, no shock that CDs might be next to get a resurgence. And I'm totally fine with that as I share all your views on why they're good. And yes, like you I'm also past that point of caring much what others think of me relative to what format I buy. Life's too short for that nonsense, LOL.
Great piece Stephan & fine thoughts Darren. I am in accord. I have a draft of an article I wrote a few months ago on how I have really enjoyed collecting used CDs over the past few years again. I need to take a look at it, revise and then post it up. I know you said Stephan, that for you, its not about Discogs, which I get... but the cool thing now is how much rare, cheap out of print stuff I do find used because people ditched their CD collections. I think this song by Jeffrey Lewis (who was in my neighborhood this past week) sums it up great:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3urXygZXb74
That said... I still do buy new music on LP and CD, and I don't mind buying albums on bandcamp where I get the download to support the artist. It might not be slow per se, as it is still somewhat related to streaming. But its convenient when I am making mixes for Imaginary Stations or when I fill in for Trash Flow Radio. Being able to burn a mix CD to take to the radio station is still my preferred way to go...
I never was one of those people who had a binder full of CDs... but with limited space, I'm thinking that might be worth doing now as my shelf space approaches its limits!
Excellent reflections! If you want to realize how different the experience of listening to most of the music streaming services versus the real stuff (on CD or whatever other preferred physical format), you can listen to this, which is what different perceptual encoders take from the music out. In addition, let's consider that we can listen to music using the whole body (ears + skin sensors), and how those music encoders impoverish some of this physical experience (as they take some of the note attacks' energy out): https://youtu.be/DwpS7gOt554?t=156
Thanks! That's an interesting aspect and a scientific explanation for why listening to physical media just feels richer and deeper.
I completed a course in Deep Listening last year, and consciously listening with your whole body is an important part of that practice.