Vinyl: the Wave of the Future

Recently, I went on a vinyl buying binge (binge meaning five records, which is a ton for me right now). This is aside from my Goodwill trips where I buy a pile for $12. These were honest-to-god new(-ish) releases. For the longest time, I fought with myself over whether I should be the CD or the vinyl copy of an album. The compromise wound up being that I'd eventually by both. Not very efficient (though this is coming from someone who has bought multiple versions of each of the three Evil Dead movies and will be buying a new one any day now).

However, there has been a somewhat recent development (and a bit of marketing genius) to sell records with either a downloadable mp3 copy or an actual CD. This certainly weighs heavily in the decision-making process. The biggest issue with buying records was that they weren't portable. I couldn't go running and listen to the album, let alone listen to one in the car. I don't even need to buy a special record player that has a USB port. Yes... this appeals to me greatly.

I won't get into the whole "vinyl vs. CD" argument because I've heard arguments on both side that seem valid to me. Clearly, most people don't know one way or another aside from personal preference. I just know I like the sound a record player makes. I like the feel and look of the vinyl album. I like the large record covers and fantasize about one day covering my wall with them. I really like the idea of a record as a whole unit that had a lot of thought put into the order of the songs (and not something to be picked apart for the highlights).

Each medium has their advantages (though I struggle to see what the advantage of the cassette is). CDs are portable and lendable. Mp3s offer the chance to carry your whole collection in your pocket. Vinyl is classic and durable. Now that I can easily have the best of all worlds, I'll be keeping my mp3 player and my record player side-by-side.