IN AN INCREASINGLY DIGITAL WORLD, I'VE FALLEN BACK IN LOVE WITH MY CD PLAYER. 
I've always been well into my music, the first place I ask upon visiting any new place; "is there a music store?". Obviously, there's the giants, HMV, That's Entertainment, Fopp; but I'm also a sucker for those beautiful hidden gems. Reflex in Newcastle. Pop Recs in Sunderland. I just love physical music.
In an increasingly digital age, I do find myself buying less and less 'music' than usual. I steer away from purchasing digital content, and merely pay for services such as Spotify, or I use Soundcloud, and facilities of that nature. Why pay for an album at a time, when you can pay a set fee for all the music in the world (ish)? What I have noticed recently, however, is that I am buying more CDs and vinyl than ever before.
In the past year alone, I have pre-ordered 5, YES FIVE, actually physical CDs, and I'm still yet to make my first purchase on iTunes that wasn't fulfilled by a gift card. So, this begs the question, is everyone else buying more music now than ever before, or am I just becoming increasingly hipster?
There's something about the owning of a CD. The sounds surrounding the experience; the crackle of the packaging, the clicks and clacks of the box, the crisp quality of the paper. The sound it makes when you pop it in and press play. Such nostalgia! Something a digital download just cannot fulfil, for me.
My biggest Christmas present this year was an absolutely stunning Crosley Turntable, one I specifically asked for in order to feed this addiction to vinyl and physical music.
I think it all stems back to that time in secondary school, where my Mam would give me a tenner every weekend to go up to "The Green" in Newcastle (cringe). We'd pop into the most beautiful little record shop in the basement of one of the buildings in Old Eldon Square, called Pet Sounds (R.I.P.), and providing I had enough money for the metro home, it was pretty much free reign from there on in.
I would spend hours in there just flicking through the merchandise; a trait in which I get from my Dad, who can spend weeks trawling through the music in HMV.
This year, I've also found that I've branched out in the types and styles of music I'm willing to listen to, and ultimately pay for. Featured in this post is just an example; R&B, techno, dubstep and electronic, and electro pop. I've also bought and been gifted some CDs and vinyl from the likes of The 1975, Arctic Monkeys, Disclosure, and Funeral for a Friend.
In fact, I'm pretty sure it's my love of physical music that allows me to branch out to this extent. I begrudge paying for digital content because it's not something physical you can lift up and say "hey, this is mine!" Although iTunes is an absolutely fantastic service, don't get me wrong, I'm much more willing to pick up a CD for a tenner and think, "yeah, I guess I could listen to this", than throw £6 into thin air for the digital version.
Saturday 5 July 2014, 11:02am
