Why collect records?

As a Middle Aged Lady(TM), I have been through many media trends: I owned records, cassette tapes, CDs, and of course, I do stream. However, I hung onto records for a long time. First, I had worked at the campus radio station, and I had become insufferable (as one does in college). Second, CDs were pretty pricey at the time, not to mention the cost of a CD player. So I stuck with records for longer than most. So what happened?

First of all, I moved a lot, and in those days, hiring movers was something that rich adults did. I paid friends in beer and pizza. Each move created some attrition; also, records are heavy. Next thing you know, the stereo was gone, the records were gone (looking at the median value of some of those makes me weep), and I had a much more portable CD boombox and a folder full of CDs.

And then I went to grad school.

One of the things that happens when you go to grad school is that you have to focus. And anything that doesn't get you closer to completion (or closer to being competitive on the job market) tumbles down the list of priorities. Plus, unless you're some sort of unicorn (or you have a high-earning spouse or a trust fund), you're broke. Eventually, I finished, and while the next logical step was to get on the tenure track, it turns out that teaching adults foreign languages is not a growth industry. I bounced around, trying to find stable, middle class employment.

Good (ish) news: I did find that. Bad news: I'm now the caregiver to an ailing parent. The trips I planned needed to be put on hold. And while I could have tucked away the money I was planning to spend on various trips, I felt like waiting for some day in the future where I'm accountable only to myself was like tempting fate. Why not enjoy my life within my limited parameters?

Around this time, I read an article about films from the last 20 years that are in a sort of limbo: they exist only (or mostly) as digital files; the rights are held by entities that don't feel a pressing need to distribute (either by licensing to a streaming service or offering a physical media release). They may wind up in general circulation at some point, but for the time being, they are unavailable. And that weirded me out. That dozens of people could work on an artistic project, it gets an initial release, and then, nothing. They aren't necessarily unsuccessful films; it's that they aren't considered successful enough. The whole business model has changed. While that article was film-specific, the situation is not that much different for music.

So I decided to start collecting records. Vinyl, specifically. Part of that is nostalgia: my first records were vinyl; CDs and CD players were still pretty pricey up until I graduated from college. Although vinyl does get scuffed and scratched, and worse yet, warped, CDs can suffer from damage as well. In either case, you need to be careful of quality. Finally, my middle aged eyes are not up to the task of reading the tiny print on CD liner notes. Give me that 12 x 12 inch format.

What started as something to do, a way to reconnect with music, has become a bit of a (lord help me) brand. I started a podcast because why wouldn't I? But that wasn't enough. I need more space to blather on about records and the artists who produce them. Something that doesn't suck up as much time as producing a biweekly podcast. The bonus here is that, as it stands, it will take nearly 20 years to go through my collection sticking only to the podcast schedule. And I've got a lot of cool stuff; I'm not waiting until the 2040s to brag about it.