In recent years, the rise of streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music has brought easy, algorithm-curated music listening to the tips of our fingers. You can shuffle a genre or an artist or get recommendations based on your listening habits. You can also make music a shared experience through sharing playlists on public profiles.
But in the rise of streaming, video and audio alike, it feels like we’re slowly losing touch with the unique experience of owning curated physical media collections.
Not to mention, most streaming platforms require you to pay for a premium subscription in order to play specific songs or albums when you want to and be able to listen to music offline.
Physical media affords you the freedom of controlling your music—a one-time fee for years of entertainment. Over winter break I found myself digging through my semi-abandoned CD collection and discovering music I forgot I owned.
I also decided to go down the time-consuming rabbit hole of downloading my entire physical music collection, well over 200 CDs, to my computer. This came in handy when I also discovered my iPod Nano 6th generation that I’d believed to be long gone. With only 14 songs on it, the 2010 relic needed some sprucing up. Its 7.6 GB storage capacity (compared to a new MacBook with a 128 GB capacity) allowed me to download over 1000 songs.
Using my iPod over the past few weeks has rejuvenated my enjoyment of the music I’m listening to because I know each song or album was purchased with intentionality at a time when I felt connected to it. Your connection to the art is extra special when you intentionally spend your hard-earned money to be able to enjoy it and support the artist.
So do yourself a favor and head down to Waiting Room Records (or your nearest record store) to start growing your physical media collection, or turn on IWU’s own radio station, 88.1 WESN, for a more personalized listening experience and a closer connection to your music.
