7 Reasons to Listen to Older Music Formats

Who still listens to CDs, records, or cassettes? Surprisingly, lots of people. More and more people each year are choosing to experience music offline. I’ve been lucky to have a front-row seat to this phenomenon by coordinating LPL Friends & Foundation Music & Book Sales (which now happen twice a year by popular demand). This proximity led me down a rabbit hole to figuring out why folks choose to listen the way they do. 

1. Tangibility & Ritual

If you ask Kelly Corcoran at Love Garden Sounds about physical media’s glow up, you’ll quickly understand what is happening. Recently, he explained the joy of interacting with the tangibility of music to me. CDs make music touchable. I have many fond memories of staring at liner notes while listening to an album for the first time (bonus points if lyrics were included). It was almost a ritual of choosing, playing, and experiencing music. 

2. A Different Experience

Reading via audiobook or eReader is still reading, but the encounter changes when you hold a physical book. In the same way, streaming services still count as listening to music, but the experience is different. I find that I grab a print book when I want to slow down and focus. Interacting with records and CDs scratches that same itch — you need to slow down and interact with a physical object to participate in the art.

3. Total Immersion

In middle school, I choreographed an epic roller-blading routine to the entirety of Pearl Jam's 1993 release “Vs.” Starting with the appropriately titled “Go” and ending with “Indifference.” I immersed myself in the music the way the band intended. Ok, maybe they didn’t intend the listener to be on rollerblades in their driveway, but the chronology was there. 

I was completely engaged with the album and didn’t have a chance to skip songs. If I’d only ever experienced Pearl Jam through their top streaming hits, I wouldn’t even know that song “Rats” exists, much less how it fits in the vision. 

4. That Sound

My 13-year-old is obsessed with listening to cassette tapes on a ratty one-speaker boom box. She loves the sound. I myself am particularly fond of the pops and crackles that come from my record player. There’s no denying that physical media has a unique sound.

Ed Hawkins — audio system expert and volunteer for both the LPL Friends & Foundation and Audio Reader — set me straight on the differences in sound quality. CDs have a crisp, clean, and clear sound, while records have the warm analog sound that audiophiles love. For the purists (and mathematicians) out there, a record more accurately captures the original sound wave without the compression that needs to happen to turn a wave into a binary code for digitization.

5. History

Used physical media has a history. Kelly Corcoran told me about one of his favorite albums that has his wife’s name and college address written on the inside of the sleeve. Every time he pulls out that record, it’s a visual reminder of his past and the previous times he’s played that album. Similarly, I purchased a Beatles album that the previous owner had signed as the Beatles. You could tell it was a just kid with a sharpie and it cracks me up every time I put that record on.

6. Ethical Considerations

Streaming services have suspect motivations (I’m not even starting on their issues with artist compensation). As an example, Spotify started as an ad revenue stream, using music as the vehicle. Kelly likens streaming services to buying fast fashion, while physical media is more of an anchor piece that will be in your closet for decades.

I’m not trying to shame you away from all digital music. “For the average listener, convenience wins out,” says Ed Hawkins. “You can’t even get a car with a CD player anymore.” It’s also not convenient to lug around a 100-CD suitcase to take your music collection with you on vacation. 

7. Community-Minded Purchasing Power

Buying a new physical album supports the artist, all the folks involved in creating the album, and the local record store where you buy it (shameless Love Garden plug here, opens a new window). Buying used physical media keeps items out of the landfill and supports the local stores and nonprofits where you purchase them. Buying used also makes discovering new music more affordable (you can also borrow CDs from your local library, opens a new window *wink, wink*). 

If you’d like to jump on the physical media bandwagon, here are some tips for you:

How to Get Started

Check out the next Music & Book Sale, opens a new window. At these sales, LPL Friends & Foundation partners with Audio Reader Network, opens a new window, an audio information service for the blind and visually impaired, to bring thousands of physical albums to the Lawrence community for cheap! We hold two of these sales at the library each year–in February and September.

CDs at the LPL Friends & Foundation Book sales are typically $1 (Check out the Book Sale Calendar here, opens a new window). We offer premium CDs at the February Music & Book Sale for $3 or $5 — that’s a steal! Audio Reader Network prices the records, cassettes, audio equipment, and musical instruments individually, but well below what you would find online. Plus, when you shop these sales, you are supporting your local library and helping improve information access for blind and visually impaired Kansans.

Ed Hawkins says you can build a home listening system from scratch at these sales for around $200–$300. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Receiver with two channels (~ $95)
• Pair of bookshelf speakers ($75–$100)
• Turntable (~$100)

OR

• CD player (~$25)

If you can’t make these sales, stop by Love Garden Sounds, opens a new window. The folks here share a love of music that is contagious! You'll be in good hands.

Donate Physical Media

Both LPL Friends & Foundation and Audio Reader rely on donations to make these sales a success. If you would like to donate physical media items to either of these organizations, check out the info below.

• Donate CDs and DVDs to LPL Friends & Foundation, opens a new window
• Donate records, cassettes, and audio equipment to Audio Reader Network, opens a new window
• Sell your CDs and records to Love Garden Sounds, opens a new window

I hope to see you at the sale!

---

Every great album has a secret song at the end. Since you made it this far, check out Angela and Ed's recommendations for albums to experience in their entirety:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Déjà Vu

–Angela Hyde is the Lawrence Public Library Friends & Foundation Program Coordinator.