I think this is a very good post, giving us lots to chew on.
Note that those self-same 'autogenerated Spotify playlists' contain quick links to the whole album from which each song came.
Hence one could argue that 'autogenerated Spotify playlists' are themselves actually one of the primary things that emphasise consuming music outside of 'autogenerated Spotify playlists'. They are a fabulous segue into exploring whole albums. Quickly. Immediately. And at no extra cost.
Agreed. Streaming is obviously fantastic for exploring music. I explore music that way all the time. And in fact, articles on the vinyl revival have shown that people playing records, including the young people involved in the vinyl revival, often use streaming for musical exploration. And then when they find albums, they are particularly interested in, help guides their vinyl purchases.
I have found the algorithms on YouTube and elsewhere quite helpful this way.
The implied notion that vinyl (of all things) and its renaissance, is good because it emphasises consuming music outside of 'autogenerated Spotify playlists', is way off-track:-
I’m betting mppix will bring more clarity and nuance to his position if asked.
I don’t think vinyl is better or some absolute
“ good” in terms of being better for music exploration. But it certainly can be good, for many enthusiasts, as another form of music exploration.
A great many people quoted in articles about the vinyl revival, as well as Conversations, you can see every day and places like Reddit vinyl, show people saying how much they appreciated getting into vinyl in terms of music exploration. Whether it’s going to stores or record shows, crate digging, exploring their parents or someone else’s record collection, or whatever, you hear all the time “ I’m discovering so much music that I never would have if I hadn’t gotten into vinyl!”
These are often young people quite familiar with their Spotify algorithms, and they know they’ve gone off in surprising directions directions Via record collecting that weren’t showing up in their Spotify suggestions.
I myself have a large portion of my record collection taken up with a type of music, much of which is not even available on streaming or CD. And its music I absolutely treasure now.
Plus, since I like playing records so much, this leads me to looking to companies that specifically release records, especially those that seem to curate a high-quality of the type of music I love (including soundtracks, etc.)
So it is through a desire to hear music on vinyl that has led me to tons of purchases of music, I otherwise would not have heard about via my streaming algorithms. (and again I know that because I’m quite familiar with my streaming algorithms.)
So, yeah, vinyl isn’t some automatic “ better for music exploration” choice. But for many people, it is certainly opened up paths of music exploration beyond the algorithms, which may find to be a good thing. (which can include even giving greater financial support to artists in buying vinyl over streaming).
Instead of widening one's music horizons, vinyl arguably narrows them and channels them into (a) the latest releases (on vinyl, dominated by pop hits and old favourites) and (b) whatever is on the racks at your local record/vape shop where all the good stuff is snapped up in minutes and the dregs are insanely overpriced and/or damaged
Two points here:
1. Vinyl can widen peoples musical horizons. See above. (I’ve lost count as the amount of times I’ve seen vinyl newbies showing off the vinyl they got from their parents, grandparents or someone else they knew, and have been enthusiastic about having discovered music they love that they otherwise would not have)
2. It is certainly true in a sense that buying records has a “ narrowing quality.” Because of course few people can afford anything like the amount of music on records that is available on streaming. But this is far from being a negative necessarily. Given the expense and effort, buying vinyl often leads people to more closely curate their music collection. There is no inherent higher virtue in “ trying to listen to a different song or artist every single time” which is what is possible on Spotify. People have only so much time to give real attention to music, and buying records can be a way of curating that time and attention, so you end up possibly with a deeper connection, more replay, value, and higher familiarity with an album or artist.
That certainly is what a lot of vinyl enthusiasts report, and it’s been my experience too. The world of abundance in streaming can feel anything from fleeting to ubiquitous to overwhelming. I still use it, but I tend to connect more often to my highly curated record collection. Which has about 1000 records now is extremely varied.
Once again, in case it needs to be said, none of the above is stating some inherent superiority for vinyl or that anything like
“ everybody” feels the same way. It’s not about vinyl being superior: it’s about explaining why it appeals to some of us.
Cheers