Give Vinyl A Chance: 3 Reasons To Explore This Throwback Way Of Enjoying Music

It's tough to beat the convenience of digital music, but if you're looking for a way to enjoy your favorite albums in a classic way, buy a turntable for your home and head to your local music store to shop for vinyl. Take this path and you won't be alone -- according to data from Nielsen Soundscan, the organization that tracks music industry statistics, vinyl sales in the U.S. have risen consistently since 2005. Whether you're discerning about your tastes in music or are open to exploring new genres and performers, walking into a music store that sells vinyl opens the door to a new world. Here are three reasons to give vinyl a chance.

Makes Shopping Fun

Despite its convenience, there's not much of a fun factor in buying music digitally. A couple clicks on your mobile device and you'll have a song or entire album downloaded, but you'll miss the undeniably enjoyable experience of browsing until you find what you want. There's something special about visiting a music store and looking at vinyl -- even the smell of sorting through old record sleeves can be strangely satisfying. This manner of shopping expands your music horizons -- when you're shopping digitally, you simply search for what you want and download it. Browsing through tables and shelves of vinyl makes finding the album of your choice something of an odyssey and exposes you to music that you might not otherwise ever encounter.

Slows You Down

There's little question that today's fast-paced lifestyle causes stress. In fact, the American Institute on Stress reports that nearly half of all Americans consider themselves more stressed than five years ago. A significant benefit of shopping for vinyl -- and then putting it on your turntable to enjoy -- is that the entire process slows you down; you can't carry your turntable with you while you run errands. While you can listen to you digital music collection at virtually every point during your day, vinyl forces you to take a proverbial time out. Grab a snack or your favorite drink, put on an album and allow yourself to relax as the music fills the room.

It Just Sounds Better

While there are certainly several perks to both types of music, many people believe that vinyl sounds better than digital music. The process of converting a musician's work to digital form includes a compression phase that makes what you're hearing sound slightly different than the studio sound. Vinyl also has a warm sound that many music enthusiasts feel best represents the way music should be heard. The sound of vinyl is better heard than described -- check it out for yourself.

If you're looking for a music store in your area, visit Caldwell Connection.


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