Chronically Off Trend

I always feel like I am either ahead or behind the trends. My favorite movies were all made almost 100 years ago (Marvel sucks), and second wave emo is so much better than mall emo (fight me). I could make art/music to match the current trends, but I like what I like. If I’m spending time and money on my hobbies, I won’t waste it on something I don’t understand. Therefore, I must accept that I will be mocked for my choices.

Let’s get started. 

Depending on the source, the vinyl revival started around 2007, but I’m from South Dakota where society is behind by about twenty years. I started collecting vinyl the summer before senior year in 2010. Bands I loved were releasing albums on vinyl and I care about supporting artists and supporting local shops. 

I got so much shit for being into vinyl in high school. I was constantly being told that I should just pirate FLACs because vinyl sounds like garbage or that $18 vinyl was overpriced (that aged like milk) or my favorite: how do you skip or replay songs? Buddy, you lift a needle and put it back down. All this to say, I bought vinyl because I enjoyed it and I was an early adopter in the revival (even though I had no idea it was happening). 

Fast forward to 2025 and vinyl has boomed in the last few years. I’m actually sick of it. LP’s are too expensive and they sound worse than when I started because of all the color variants instead of just focusing on quality 180g releases. All the joy I had in the ceremony of sitting down and just listening to records went away and it felt like a waste of time. I sold my turntable, receiver, and cut my collection way down to put into storage so that when I do want to listen again, I still have the important LP’s. The final nail in the coffin was when I went to a local shop and bought brand new re-releases of two of my favorite albums from 2005 (totaling $75) only to put them on the platter and find that both were really poor pressings that kept skipping. I cleaned them and made sure the cartridge was clean. Still skipped; still sounded like trash. I boxed up my records the next day.

Soon after, I met up with some friends from high school that I hadn’t seen for at least ten years and we started talking about music. One of them says, “Hey man, sorry we gave you so much shit for being into vinyl. We all started collecting a couple years ago and we get it now.”

Don’t get me wrong: I’m stoked they are enjoying vinyl. I’m excited when anyone is enjoying music; that’s what it’s for. But I’m also sad that I can’t take part in the enjoyment with them and that they weren’t in it with me from the beginning. Fifteen years of collecting and enjoying anything is a pretty good run, but I went all in on something that wasn’t cool and got burnt out by the time I could finally cash in on my hipster cred.

My wife and just started paying for Spotify at the beginning of 2025. Just in time for a lot of our favorite bands to pull their music from the platform because Spotify is funding the war machine instead of paying artists. Like, yeah, we all knew the people making boo koo bucks were slime. Unless it’s a B-Corp, every corporation is like this. But you know what? I’m enjoying music discovery again.

This isn’t a new idea. Streaming, whether it’s movies or music, is a scam. It hurts the artists, it hurts the consumer, and it funds the machines that keep us oppressed. There is a huge push to start collecting physical media again. This time, it’s CD’s and Gen Z is leading the charge. People are even modding iPods! What a time to be alive! I had an iPod classic that I loved, but the battery died-died because I used it every single day for nine years. I’m sad to say, I e-recycled it because back in 2016, replacement batteries were insanely expensive.

My wife and I still have our CD’s and the mixes we made for each other when we started dating. I like that CD’s are coming back. It’s easier to find used stereo equipment that supports CD’s. Turntables need a receiver with a phono amp and a good one is hard to find and/or is more expensive. Plus, companies like FiiO and Moondrop are making quality CD players that are leaps and bounds ahead of the portable players I had growing up (not a  sponsor [You think I have sponsors? Wait, do you think I could get sponsors? {do.. do you wanna sponsor me?}]). 

The only problem is that the way most people are rebuilding their collection is through thrift stores. I totally understand: new music isn’t cheap and most bands aren’t selling CD’s anymore. Buying from thrift stores does nothing to support the artist or record stores. Keep going to your local shop and supporting small businesses that can provide revenue for artists. Hopefully, labels will see the demand and pivot back to CD. If so, I might actually be able to enjoy something as it happens.