Does Physical Media Change The Way We Listen?

Over the weekend I caught up with some friends to record some demos, during this time one of them introduced me to a tiny musical pocket square… that is to say, a DAP (Digital Audio Player), which instantly caught my fascination. In essence, it’s a standalone device for listening to music - often they sport features such as better digital to analogue conversion (translated, more accurate/better sound quality), working off file systems - so no need for an active connection, and of course saving your phone battery. They’re niche, but cool. His thinking was that owning physical media (e.g ripping CDs to his device, buying vinyl) creates a more intentional listening experience. 

My primary source of listening nowadays is through Spotify. It’s convenient and covers my music needs wherever and whenever. I use it to listen to my favourite artists but with minimal use of playlists, AI features, or ‘discovery’ features. For me, it’s like owning an iPod except I won’t run out of space. The issue of course is the payment to artists, it commodifies listening in a way that is similar to social media - for example, you can scroll instagram for as long as you like, it’s designed to keep your attention, in the same way I can skip or mash up any songs as I wish. In doing so - I feel I’ve betrayed the artist and their intended ‘listening order’. So, I don’t do this, but equally I think people are free to listen as they wish provided they enjoy what they hear. My only attempt at absolution with streaming is to buy a vinyl copy of any albums I find myself enamoured with - that way I own it forever and pay the artist for their work. 

So two words have cropped up in my head: ‘general’ and ‘intentional’ listening - that is to say, the division between listening to music in the background and then listening with full attention. So does physical media have an effect on which of these I choose? I certainly think it’s harder to play a vinyl with less intention than a streaming service. There is a definite sense of ritual: the vinyl takes up space, you are forced to remove it from the artwork, and you make a conscious decision that you will engage with at least one side of an album - so maybe 20 minutes or so. Unless something has gone very wrong, it’s generally quite difficult to skip tracks on a vinyl. It leaves you with a great opportunity for an album to grow on you. As an example, Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden is one of my favourite albums ever - my associated ritual is that I listen late, when it is quiet, and in darkness - the album commands your attention in that sense. I’ve outed myself as eccentric here, but I promise it enhances the experience. Even the album itself was recorded in darkness, with the studio being lit only by the reflections of an oil projector… I suppose I'll no doubt write more about this in future. 

CD’s then, how are those? I started with them, as a kid, and then eventually moved to ripping them to my hard drive to play through iTunes or my iPod. It’s a laborious process but seems to achieve the best of both worlds. These days I'm less interested in CDs, I am somewhat horrified by the idea of drawers/racks being filled with little plastic cases. Instead, services such as Bandcamp occupy that ground - if unaware, it’s a platform for buying music (in file format) and which pays the artist the majority of the fee. I should add, I still own the aforementioned hard drive, and since then it has come to be a storage space for more musical content - such as recorded gigs, studio sessions, and niche bootlegs or B-Sides that otherwise don’t exist in a recorded format. It's something to consider if you like to ‘own’ what you play, even if it’s in a file format. In this instance, I think my listening is met with a different form of intention - it allows me to engage with music I love but in a visual format, or if I fancy listening to an album in a live format. What’s not to love about a gig from your own living room? Provided you have good speakers…

It seems now that the movement to vinyl, or other physical releases is becoming quite common, either with abandonment of streaming platforms entirely - or in conjunction with them. My belief is that a lot of it stems from the satisfaction of owning something physical. It’s natural that if you love an artist that owning their album and poring over the album notes (as you listen) is much more enjoyable than the song title scrolling across a screen. There’s the nostalgia element too - if you didn’t grow up with vinyl, it becomes more boutique to emulate some of the experiences that the previous generation would have done regularly. I’d wager that a lot of this comes from the digital malaise. Information travels so quickly these days from phones that switching of and keeping music separate form all other digital connections allows for a more personal interaction with music. It forces you to dedicate time to listening, maybe with a drink, and allows you to slow down. Consequently, it feels more rewarding, and you feel more like you’re existing in reality for longer. I always seem to pick up on lyrics better, or have new thoughts and images occur from the music when I listen with dedication. 

Am I saying go buy a £4000 audiophile DAP? No. But, you can if you really want…