Really interesting article. Since I was born in 1976, I was introduced to music at a young age when my parents were transitioning from vinyl records to cassettes. My mom still has the "books on record" kids' stories on a Fisher-Price record player that played 45s in her basement (I broke it out about 7-8 years ago when my own kids were younger and they loved listening to the "Gremlins" movie on record)!
By 1985 or so, in my house anyway, vinyl gave way completely to cassettes. I didn't really get into music until 1986/87 and I got a boom box for Christmas in December 1986. The first cassette I bought with my own money (and still the best one ever made IMHO) was U2's "The Joshua Tree." But cassettes, for me, were short-lived. I got my first CD player in 1990 or 1991 and that changed everything. My owns kids can't fathom how great CDs were coming on the back of cassettes or vinyl (which, as you said, didn't have any romantic connotations in 1985 but only complaints about scratching, how unwieldy it was, etc.). The ability to skip to any track was magical.
As an aside, I also got caught up in the digital music phenomenon. I finally got tired of moving my 1000+ CDs during my last move in 2019 (and got tired of my wife asking why I kept all of them) so I sent most of them to a third party who ripped them into Apple Lossless format. It was an excellent decision and I have only occasionally regretted not keeping the CDs.
In any case, I think because I grew up in an era when it wasn't easy to skip songs, for my entire life I have appreciated albums more than just songs. Today, when I listen to The Joshua Tree, I usually listen to the entire thing. When I listen to Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion II, I play it straight through. When the Cure released Songs of a Lost World last year (and, yes, I'm buying vinyl), I threw it on the turntable and listened straight through. I've listened to it about 100 times by now and still do it this way.
This article struck a chord with me because, while I don't think I will ever go back to CDs since they never held any romantic appeal for me and, to my ear, don't sound any better than Apple Lossless formats, I understand the feeling of people who might yearn for them. My daughters, ages 15 and 13, never had anything but digital music but they are the ones who have led the vinyl renaissance in our house. I think they were missing what I had as a kid: that tangible connection with an artist. Although the CD format itself I think has been surpassed by streaming (loosely defined), what is missing is the physical aspect. Nothing today compares to buying the Smashing Pumpkins "Aeroplane Flies High" box set or Queensryche "Operation: LIVEcrime." Nothing, that is, except vinyl. My 13-year-old daughter is vying for the title of the world's most dedicated Swiftie and has has all her vinyls, including some special editions, presumably because she was looking for that inexplainable connection to the artist that only physical media can provide.
In any case, these articles are fascinating and I really appreciate them. Oh, and by the way, to listen to all my new vinyl records, I listen on the Spindeck MAX and Spinbase Max which you recommended in the very first Substack of yours I read following your appearance on Rick Beato's YouTube.
Digital music doesn't have liner notes. My first Cherry Red CD box set project is coming out next month and you can stream every song except one, so an enterprising listener could make their own Spotify or Apple Music playlist. I hope the artwork and insights will be worth the money for anyone who chooses to buy one.
I'm still using the Andover Audio gear in my office. The Spinbase is an amazing product.
A very informative and worthwhile post. I'm a fairly high-volume music buyer; made one format change in my lifetime (vinyl to CDs, early '90s) but at this point I don't have the patience/resources for another one, and between the facts that I'm usually multitasking when listening and that CDs are so much less labor-intensive than vinyl, I don't regret the choice I made.
Re: ethics of used CDs: there are a few of us out here still buying new CDs, both new releases and reissues. You'll probably have to either go mail order or pester your local store to special order them, but they are out there. Really wish that more RSD titles were available on CD (although many of them do get a CD release in the following weeks/months, e.g. the Rain Parade _Crashing Dream_ reissue from the most recent RSD).
Great point about manufacturing expertise being lost, and unfortunate that new component-level CD players now start at $400 -- I chose the Yamaha CD-S303 over the Cambridge Audio AXC35 mentioned in the article, though that choice was mostly because the former was available in black (to match my other components) and the latter wasn't.
Finally, ironic that Opal's _Early Recordings_ CD is pictured here -- there was a legit, beautifully packaged/annotated 2CD reissue ready to roll out a few years back but it was cancelled at the eleventh hour.
The sorry state of David Roback's catalog is an obsession of mine. Really wish those Opal records and Rainy Day could get proper reissues, but I understand that there are a lot of obstacles there.
I hate to write about nuanced problems because people seem to hate nuance. I wouldn't have been able to learn enough to have a career without all the (royalty-free) promos and used records I bought, but I know some artists who've taken the position that anyone who doesn't buy new copies of their music is a criminal (and that any record company employee who shares promos should be fired). There's no good answer to that problem.
I just bought a used Sanyo boombox with CD and cassette. Works great. My last purchase was Deftones self titled CD directly from their online store for $11.99. I forgot how good CDs sound and enjoy listening from first to last track. Glad I kept my Who and Echo and the Bunnymen's boxed sets, too.
I have some old demos from friends' bands, too on CD. So much fun to listen 20 years later.
Really interesting article. Since I was born in 1976, I was introduced to music at a young age when my parents were transitioning from vinyl records to cassettes. My mom still has the "books on record" kids' stories on a Fisher-Price record player that played 45s in her basement (I broke it out about 7-8 years ago when my own kids were younger and they loved listening to the "Gremlins" movie on record)!
By 1985 or so, in my house anyway, vinyl gave way completely to cassettes. I didn't really get into music until 1986/87 and I got a boom box for Christmas in December 1986. The first cassette I bought with my own money (and still the best one ever made IMHO) was U2's "The Joshua Tree." But cassettes, for me, were short-lived. I got my first CD player in 1990 or 1991 and that changed everything. My owns kids can't fathom how great CDs were coming on the back of cassettes or vinyl (which, as you said, didn't have any romantic connotations in 1985 but only complaints about scratching, how unwieldy it was, etc.). The ability to skip to any track was magical.
As an aside, I also got caught up in the digital music phenomenon. I finally got tired of moving my 1000+ CDs during my last move in 2019 (and got tired of my wife asking why I kept all of them) so I sent most of them to a third party who ripped them into Apple Lossless format. It was an excellent decision and I have only occasionally regretted not keeping the CDs.
In any case, I think because I grew up in an era when it wasn't easy to skip songs, for my entire life I have appreciated albums more than just songs. Today, when I listen to The Joshua Tree, I usually listen to the entire thing. When I listen to Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion II, I play it straight through. When the Cure released Songs of a Lost World last year (and, yes, I'm buying vinyl), I threw it on the turntable and listened straight through. I've listened to it about 100 times by now and still do it this way.
This article struck a chord with me because, while I don't think I will ever go back to CDs since they never held any romantic appeal for me and, to my ear, don't sound any better than Apple Lossless formats, I understand the feeling of people who might yearn for them. My daughters, ages 15 and 13, never had anything but digital music but they are the ones who have led the vinyl renaissance in our house. I think they were missing what I had as a kid: that tangible connection with an artist. Although the CD format itself I think has been surpassed by streaming (loosely defined), what is missing is the physical aspect. Nothing today compares to buying the Smashing Pumpkins "Aeroplane Flies High" box set or Queensryche "Operation: LIVEcrime." Nothing, that is, except vinyl. My 13-year-old daughter is vying for the title of the world's most dedicated Swiftie and has has all her vinyls, including some special editions, presumably because she was looking for that inexplainable connection to the artist that only physical media can provide.
In any case, these articles are fascinating and I really appreciate them. Oh, and by the way, to listen to all my new vinyl records, I listen on the Spindeck MAX and Spinbase Max which you recommended in the very first Substack of yours I read following your appearance on Rick Beato's YouTube.
Digital music doesn't have liner notes. My first Cherry Red CD box set project is coming out next month and you can stream every song except one, so an enterprising listener could make their own Spotify or Apple Music playlist. I hope the artwork and insights will be worth the money for anyone who chooses to buy one.
I'm still using the Andover Audio gear in my office. The Spinbase is an amazing product.
No liner notes, no photos, and no way to display it in your house! I'm going to need some new shelving if I keep buying all these vinyl records!
“very few independent record stores could stay open if the used music business didn’t subsidize the tiny margins they make on new releases.”
Can you explain this? I don’t understand.
This is a great question on a subject that deserves more explanation. I'll include something in my next newsletter. Thank you for bringing it up.
Just published something that I hope helps explain this.
This was fantastic, James. Thank you!
As far as supporting artists goes, you’re right; there’s no easy path , and everyone needs to figure out what works best for them.
A very informative and worthwhile post. I'm a fairly high-volume music buyer; made one format change in my lifetime (vinyl to CDs, early '90s) but at this point I don't have the patience/resources for another one, and between the facts that I'm usually multitasking when listening and that CDs are so much less labor-intensive than vinyl, I don't regret the choice I made.
Re: ethics of used CDs: there are a few of us out here still buying new CDs, both new releases and reissues. You'll probably have to either go mail order or pester your local store to special order them, but they are out there. Really wish that more RSD titles were available on CD (although many of them do get a CD release in the following weeks/months, e.g. the Rain Parade _Crashing Dream_ reissue from the most recent RSD).
Great point about manufacturing expertise being lost, and unfortunate that new component-level CD players now start at $400 -- I chose the Yamaha CD-S303 over the Cambridge Audio AXC35 mentioned in the article, though that choice was mostly because the former was available in black (to match my other components) and the latter wasn't.
Finally, ironic that Opal's _Early Recordings_ CD is pictured here -- there was a legit, beautifully packaged/annotated 2CD reissue ready to roll out a few years back but it was cancelled at the eleventh hour.
The sorry state of David Roback's catalog is an obsession of mine. Really wish those Opal records and Rainy Day could get proper reissues, but I understand that there are a lot of obstacles there.
I hate to write about nuanced problems because people seem to hate nuance. I wouldn't have been able to learn enough to have a career without all the (royalty-free) promos and used records I bought, but I know some artists who've taken the position that anyone who doesn't buy new copies of their music is a criminal (and that any record company employee who shares promos should be fired). There's no good answer to that problem.
I just bought a used Sanyo boombox with CD and cassette. Works great. My last purchase was Deftones self titled CD directly from their online store for $11.99. I forgot how good CDs sound and enjoy listening from first to last track. Glad I kept my Who and Echo and the Bunnymen's boxed sets, too.
I have some old demos from friends' bands, too on CD. So much fun to listen 20 years later.