Vinyl, CDs, MP3s, spotify... the world moves on

There is something missing. But it's not something our kids or grandkids, who never knew of buying music in the way we did, will miss (because they never did it!).

Just like we won't miss the culture of people being able to smoke in our work place. Or riding in a car without a seatbelt. Or waking up to the sweet sound of a pot of chá brewing by our bedside in a well engineered teasmaid.

These things were never commonplace to us so we don't miss them. Just like future generations won't miss the buying music experience.

Things change and evolve. Some get worse, most get better.

For giving up the buying music experience, we have gained a highly accessible whole new world of music we might never have listened to before, because we wouldn't want to pay for something we weren't absolutely concrete-sure we liked.

I sure do miss a trip to the record store though!!

I'm one of those people that does kind of regret the change, but yet have embraced it too, having grown up with vinyl, tapes then CDs and now digital music.

There was something exciting and satisfying about that trip to the record shop, as a teenager with your pocket-money, saving your lunch money to bunk off school and buy the latest singles or albums, or browsing for hours in the various hight street and independent shops but that world is gone now, and even though I occasionally pop into the local charity shops or few independent record shops to have a look through their racks to find the odd gem, the thrill of finding something rare or unique has kind of gone when you can more or less find almost anything and download it online if you look hard enough. 

It is hard to believe how much things have changed, and will change even more in future, but I think in general it might just be an age thing, many of us who grew up listening to albums on the hi-fi stereo, [what a quaint, antique-sounding phrase that seems now!] studying the artwork and reading the lyrics along with the songs in the booklet will still have fond memories of those days but the generation that have known nothing but downloads and iTunes etc will one day I'm sure have in their own way fond memories of whatever way they used to get their music, when things have moved on again in the future.

The idea of having your entire music collection on a device that fits in your pocket was completely unimaginable, Star Trek fantasy only 20 years ago, amazing isn't it!

I think it's personal taste too. Some people prefer to have something physical in their possession if they're paying money for it.

Actual CDs and books for me too - which is getting increasingly tricky. I don't use Spotify, and since all the tax hoo-ha, I try to use Amazon as little as possible. I only download when there's no alternative or the CD is stupidly expensive.

I want a physical copy. If that makes me an old fart, fine. :-)

Where is good for vinyl online? Reasonable prices, maybe signed copies??

I've no space for new books and cds though......my shelves are all full to bursting, cds are all boxed up and in the attic. I need a bigger home for the collection that the three of us in our house has.