J DeBell’s Vinyl Collection, courtesy of Joseph DeBell
BY JOSEPH DEBELL, STAFF WRITER
Despite being inefficient, expensive, and impractical, Vinyl has somehow made a comeback in recent years.
It makes no sense, considering that streaming music is more straightforward, and you get the luxury of making playlists. Vinyl shouldn’t have a place to fit in. Yet, somehow they’ve become trendy, and I’ve even got a collection.
I’ve been collecting for almost a year. It started as a hobby and then became one of the few collections I still try to grow today. However, If I had to start over, I’m still confident that I would increase my collection mainly because the criticism of Vinyl has never swayed me.
All of the talk about how it’s “boring” and the complaints about having to “get up to change the record” is why I love it. It almost slows you down.
When you play vinyl, it’s a more significant decision than opening a music-streaming app. So having to get up and place the vinyl on the turntable feels like an investment. That being said, I realized this after I had started my collection.
The main reason why I started was that buying a vinyl record created a personal connection to the music. Every record I bought had a reason behind its purchase.
The first example that comes to mind is “Call Me If You Get Lost” by Tyler the Creator. It reminds me of when I first heard this record on a trip to College Park, Maryland.
Now my collection is more than just a collection. It’s a time capsule that reminds me of when and why I bought these records.
I talked with one of my childhood friends (Xander Chiulli), who started collecting records before I did to see if he had similar thoughts.
“It’s a fun hobby, and collecting physical media can both support the artists you love and give you something nice,” he said.
He continued to talk about how it has benefits over streaming platforms.
“Also, with things like Apple Music and Spotify, you don’t actually own the songs even if you buy them. So physical media has the added benefit of it being completely yours.”
Vinyl also outsold CDs in 2022, according to The Independent. I’m not surprised by this. This is even more when you consider how vinyls seem nostalgic while CDs feel like outdated tech despite being younger than vinyl.
“I think honestly it’s just because of the novelty of vinyl,” Chiulli said. “I still think CDs are a great option, but vinyls are better quality.”
debelljb22@bonaventure.edu
