For the last couple of months, I have been collecting CDs, whether from thrift stores or from my family’s old ones or brand new from the internet. I cannot seem to resist– the pull of a thrift find or of music that I cannot get enough of is huge. It has become a new staple of who I am: I tell everyone who enters my car about my collection and bring them up whenever I hear the music. I look for CDs everywhere, and I am almost always fruitful in my search.

Point being: CDs are brilliant. I use them in my car because the BlueTooth doesn’t work and I broke the aux plug-in. I might be a bit partial because I get to absolutely blast my music through the car speakers, while I cannot do that with my phone, but that does not downplay the wonder of these little plastic discs.

The CD peak may be over, and we may have moved on from albums and mix CDs to Spotify playlists. However, that does not dethrone the musical power of listening to an album from top to bottom, physically. I love the idea of choosing an album from an assortment and listening to it in its entirety like the artist created it and like it was designed to be first enjoyed. I have also found a lot of “Best Hits” CDs that give me the best parts of an era or of an artist. I adore my “Best of Broadway Early 50s” and my “Elton John: Musical Masterpiece (Volume I and II)” CDs. I, as a show tunes fan, also love a soundtrack all together on one CD. My favorites that I own are “Mamma Mia,” “Footloose,” “Hello, Dolly!,” “Annie,” and “In the Heights.” 

A merit that should never be undersold is the concept of burning your own CDs. This has been somewhat replicated in streaming services by making playlists, but the intimate effect of burning your favorite songs into a disc is something else altogether. The idea that you can curate songs, put them on a CD, and then listen to all the tracks without having to choose anything else — just enjoying what past you had created — is so excellent. Additionally, you can custom make CDs and give them to your loved ones, which is so special. The personal sense of receiving a mix CD is hard to beat. I received a CD for my birthday last fall, and it was such a unique and standout thing that I nearly cried when I was given it. The titles of songs spelled out a message for me from the person I love, and all the songs were beautiful. It felt more real because it was physical. It was a gesture of love that I could hold in my hand. I also got a CD for Christmas last year, which was my two favorite Arctic Monkeys albums, “AM” and “Favourite Worst Nightmare.” The fact that it was homemade just for me makes me love it more. 

My personal love for CDs definitely came from my family. My sister, also, has had a habit of giving people CDs or receiving them for holidays or whatever else it may be, and I think that made me realize how personal it was to do such a thing. My dad also burned CDs when we were younger. He took the best and most significant songs of the year and put them on one disc to be remembered as a unit. His CDs stand out because they are time capsules from an era in our lives. We own 2 CD players at my dad’s house, and they are both just a portal into the world of enjoying music out loud, especially those discs.

When I think of CDs, I imagine my family decorating the Christmas tree while we played our best Christmas CDs. I think of our CD that has the soundtrack of “Barbie: Princess and the Pauper,” which is one of the most nostalgic movies and has the best songs ever. I think of my sister getting CDs during her punk rock phase, and more recently, of her favorite K-pop albums. Music is such a huge connector for my sister and me, and CDs are a big part of that. The physical representation of songs she loves and songs I love and songs we love together is so wonderful. She was the one who inspired me to get into CDs, in fact. CDs tie me to my family and my loved ones, and nothing digital can replace that. CDs are full of memories.