Let’s be real for a minute: Music streaming services have made our listening habits far more convenient.
That’s likely a big part of the reason why music streaming accounted for 75% of the music industry’s revenue last year. Now, you can listen to your favorite music anywhere at any time.
But convenience will only get you so far.
Sometimes you don’t want to just listen to music — you want to experience it. For that reason, we’re convinced that vinyl isn’t going anywhere.
Don’t believe us? Keep reading to see why we’re convinced that vinyl is here to stay.
Vinyl is More Personal
Next time you’re on Pandora or Spotify, search for a playlist of the top songs of the year you graduated high school. As soon as you hit ‘play’, memories of high school will come rushing back to you.
There’s so much more to music than just the song or album itself. As we listen to music, we form powerful emotional bonds and memories.
Because of these bonds, music is inherently personal.
And though it’s possible to create a playlist of songs that bring back pleasant memories, physically holding something that represents those feelings is so much different.
It’s like the difference between a photograph and a memory. A tangible replication of something will always mean more.
Plus, vinyl is great for collecting.
Over time, you’ll own a personally curated representation of the music that best represents your life.
Vinyl and Music Streaming Sound Different
Still not convinced that vinyl records are still the best way to get your music? Let’s take a look at a more technical reason.
Vinyl is known for its distinct, warm crackling sound. The reason why vinyl sounds so unique is that, unlike with music streaming services or CDs, the audio waves are etched into the groove of the record.
Digital music, meanwhile, is a digitized reconstruction of the same wave. However, it’s almost impossible to recreate the form with 100% accuracy.
So, what does this mean for you?
It means that if you’re an audio purist, vinyl is still the way to go. Since the vinyl grooves contain the full, accurate sound waves, you’ll get a stronger, richer sound than you would.
That’s not even accounting for compression, which can drastically reduce audio quality. Even when using a program to rip your vinyl collection to your PC, the audio quality isn’t as accurate.
With that said, downloading through programs like Seedbox with VPN or using file types like FLAC files can come close enough to achieving audio fidelity that you might not notice the difference.
Vinyl Sales Are Up
Finally, it’s impossible to argue with the massive uptick in vinyl sales throughout the last several years.
Last year, music fans snatched up nearly 10 million vinyl records as vinyl profits continued to soar.
It’s likely that this trend won’t reverse anytime soon. It looks as though vinyl is here to stay.
Music Streaming or Vinyl: What’s The Future?
The debate between vinyl purists and music streaming enthusiasts continues to rage on.
Though that won’t stop anytime soon, view these forms of music consumption as complementary forms of enjoyment. There’s no reason why you can’t enjoy both.
So before you ditch that record collection or cancel your Spotify subscription, remember that it’s all about how you want to listen.
However you listen, make sure you can listen for years to come. Turn down the volume and check out our tips on how to maintain your hearing.