The Benefits of Vinyl

I’m not a big vinyl guy. I have a few records, I listen to them once in a while. Most of the time I stream music online.

But tonight I walked into a local used record store and bought two gems:

Graceland by Paul Simon, and

Two for the Road, Herb Ellis and Joe Pass.

I took a listen and thoroughly enjoyed both albums.  I think I enjoyed them so much because listening to vinyl provides me (at least) two benefits:

Attention

When I put a record on, I pay attention to it. It’s not just background noise or mood music. And when I give good music my attention, I’m rewarded. That’s when I feel the kind of joy I had when I first got into music.  I’m not distracted and I’m not multitasking. I’m actually listening.

Intention

When I put a record on, I’m intentional about what I choose. Much of my streaming music behavior has devolved into algorithmic suggestions or topical playlists. It’s a very different thing to sit and think, What do I want to listen to? What artist do I want to engage with? It makes me a musical explorer instead of a couch potato.

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