The End of The Collection (Part 2)

Hey there guys. Happy start of the weekend to all of you. I wanted to add a few more of my thoughts on music collections. I have spent part of the last two days burning some of my cloud collection to CD. Ended up with some WC and the Maad Circle, Low Profile, Mobb Deep, Jay Z, Biggie, DMX, and Ashanti (for a total of 13 discs). Been listening to them on my old Walkman CD player and my old hi-fi system. My good friend Andrew from California recently sent me a booklet of 300 CD's out of his personal collection recently. I bought all my sisters old CD's last year, plus I've bought about 50 used and new CD's in the last year and various places that sell them. My point is that even in 2019, I believe that collecting music is still worthwhile. And, the more I collect, the more I really hate the idea of everyone listening to music in such low quality.

Sometimes, I wish I hadn't purged myself of all the CD's and tapes that I bought and collected over the years, because I would have one ridiculous collection of music. Now I collect vinyl as well. recently found Common's Resurrection album for ten bucks on Amazon. I say all this to say that searching out and collecting music is always a fun endeavor, and with the advent of streaming into the mainstream consciousness, we have really got away from doing a lot of the simple things that make life unique and fun.

I remember the joy of getting my first computer back in 07. The joy I felt taking it out of the box, setting it up, and just going to town on a stack of a hundred writable discs. Going everywhere with my Walkman disc player. I love vinyl and cassettes, but nothing sounds as good to me as a CD. I streamed for years, and even went so far as to throw out a three hundred CD book back in 2013. I regret doing that, because that book took a minute to accumulate. All those memories relegated to either a landfill or into the hands of someone who would never appreciate the memories that I had cultivated on those little plastic discs.

I find it all too shameful that music has been relegated to just something that takes up space on mobile devices. I'm reminded of the first music player I had growing up. It was a Walkman cassette player and I would go everywhere with it, with a few tapes to fill up my pockets. And, these are things I will cherish forever. I'd buy a Walkman right now, but they fetch such a high premium online that I really can't afford it if we're being truthful.

My final thought is this:

I'm sure that kids today will have memories of the music they love, but for me personally it can't possibly compare to the memories I had. trips to the record store. Looking through endless stacks of tapes and CD's. Combing through the used section to find that overlooked gem that someone else didn't appreciate. Buying a maxi single that had a remix that you fell in love with forever.

These are the memories I have of music, and I will remember them quite fondly.