matrixschmatrix wrote:
If we're going to buy physical media- which still has its appeal, for a favorite album or a particularly beautiful cover or something- it makes sense to want to but the version with the most aura in the Benjamin sense (which I realize is ironic in the context of mass produced items but still) the most sense of physical connection to the work. CDs have no real value- jewel cases are annoying and uncollectable, and one can get precisely the same content with a digital download. LPs not only sound different- how different is a matter of debate, but surely not exactly the same- but one can literally see the music encoded on them, one could play them by hand with the right tools, and they have a heft and weight while also no taking up that much space in bulk. If you think of vinyl not as a big new format, but as literally the only physical format millenials ever buy, I think it makes some sense.
(Also, this doesn't apply to Barnes and Noble, but vinyl allows one to go crate searching and tag sale buying and digging through the past in all sorts of ways that have a real appeal in a world in which most purchasing is mindlessly easy.)
Some of the most ignorant statements I've seen for awhile on this site. CDs allow you to collect your favorite albums without them taking up a lot of space, unlike vinyl, and the hassle of taking care of vinyl is too troublesome for me. And saying CDs have no real value is very perplexing considering there are audiophile companies still making stellar editions of albums on CD worth a lot of money. Even cassettes have made a resurgence and cassettes were never known for good sound quality. And saying you get the same content of a CD as on a digital download is so bizarre as well. Yes, CDs are digital, but downloads don't give you the physical sensations like the nice size of a CD, whereas I think vinyl packaging is too big and bulky. And most people honestly can't tell the difference when listening to vinyl or CD. And so much vinyl is mastered from CD sources anyway, which kinda defeats the purpose of being analog purists. However, one thing vinyl can have over CDs is dynamic range, but that's for another day.