… a blog post from Chairman’s Corner.

Hey hey there music lovers. As mentioned in my last blog post, I just recently got back from hitting the road to play some shows on the East Coast. While in Brooklyn, I just had to visit Academy Records (pictured above), as I’ve always been able to come up with some amazing finds there in the past.

It had been quite a while since I had done any crate digging at a record store, and I became totally absorbed with this adventure away from my hometown. I had a blast combing through various boxes of records, looking at detailed artwork, seeing what albums caught the attention of others in the shop, discovering obscure movie soundtracks, and hearing the music that was being played overhead.

Having spent my fair share of time with Spotify, I’ve noticed that the streaming service eventually caused me to focus on the actual music less and less. While streaming, music became more like background noise to me. Hitting the record store in Brooklyn reminded me of the importance of really reconnecting with music again – and how music actually DESERVES our full attention. Streaming services are constantly offering us the option of picking and choosing songs, as well as various types of playlists, which is great – BUT there’s something to be said for listening to an entire album in a single sitting. Hearing a full album, song by song, is an experience that is quite likely much closer to the vision and message that the artist in question was originally going for (as compared with the usual random shuffle of tunes while streaming).

Streaming is incredibly popular because it’s convenient. However, convenience isn’t everything. While having tons of songs at your fingertips with streaming is great and all, you’re never forced to accept the music for what it is. With streaming (unlike the beautiful experience of listening to an album that you just bought on vinyl), you can just hit the pause or shuffle buttons at any time. IMHO, this strips away the charm of an album, making it feel more like a product that can be bought and sold (as opposed to a meticulous work of art). With vinyl, it’s just you and the music (a refreshing feeling for sure). There’s really so much more to music than just playlists or algorithms.

This isn’t to say that there’s no place at all for streaming, which is obviously much easier to do when you’re on the move. However, technology often has a way of making us less mindful with how we listen to music (not to mention what we listen to). With vinyl, cassettes & CDs, the sound quality is almost always better than the majority of streaming services out there. With most streaming services, there’s a lot of compression happening. As a result, you hear less instruments and details (so you’re getting much less of what the artist originally intended their music to sound like). Additionally, there are many fantastic albums out there that you won’t necessarily find while streaming, which is yet another reason to hit your local record store.

Cheers,

Jeffrey “Chairman” Couch

Music lover, creator & collector

chairman@spinneymedia.com

Chairman currently enjoys freaking out & creating panic with his spastic rock band Nasalrod, which is based in Portland, Oregon. He created this blog to share his serious love of music, the arts, and physical media.