Physical media has always been a great source to listen to what you want whenever you want without having to wait for it to come on the radio. Recently, the importance of physical media for music has become more intriguing for me.

My parents showed me their CD collection that had been sitting in the basement. I knew they bought CDs, but I never actually knew of the extent of their collections. My parents had several CD books, lots of cases, and even a special CD cabinet. It captured the 90’s era of music perfectly. I found Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nirvana, Hole, Fiona Apple, along with many others. Before this, I had been collecting physical media in the form of records for around one-and-a-half years. I had bought a cheap record player of questionable quality off of Amazon and two records: The Doors and The Best of Jimi Hendrix. I wanted to buy them because I liked how I could hold the music that I listened to. I enjoyed looking through the record stores and spotting all my favorite albums and artists, and it’s still something I enjoy today. I recently bought a record of Bikini Kill’s singles.

It’s nice to be able to look at all the physical media in a place. The music of all different artists sits there, ready to listen to. Along with browsing music in real life, there are some joys that physical media can bring that streaming services can’t do. I can see it similar to the debate of physical books versus ebooks. It’s the small things, like hearing and watching the record spin, looking through the pamphlets with song lyrics, and the album cover designs. I like a physical version of all my music that I can’t lose. I find it a bit comforting to know that if I’m in a doomsday scenario (I haven’t figured out how I’m going to power a CD or a record player yet) if phones go out I can still listen to music. Maybe if I lose my Apple Music, I will still be able to listen to the songs I love. I like having physical media, it feels intentional, to go out and buy a CD or record of a specific album. It feels appreciative to buy an artist’s music on record. It feels like a way to express how I love music. Although, just listening to music itself is a way to do that too, buying physical versions symbolizes more for me.

For me, music has always been a huge part of my life, so these collections are important, too. The records in my collection have also served as important memories. After the Beatles released the “Now and Then” single, I bought it on record. There were several instances where I went record shopping with my cousin, who lives very far from me. In addition, I have also received records as gifts from my family and friends. All in all, my records and CDs are important to me and how I listen to music. In the words of Jimi Hendrix, “Music is my religion.”