Vinyl, a resurgence of life
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The vinyl revival is currently trending. Every trend has its expiration date, and vinyl may be the next exception. My sentiments are simply pessimistic about the future of the CD. Our era is tilting relentlessly towards digital music. Streaming has already made MP3s obsolete, just as MP3s once decimated CDs. With each revolution, music becomes increasingly accessible. This was the primary reason for vinyl's untimely decline in the 1990s, yet it has now become a royalist champion of its restoration.
It's often the case that survival comes first, then life itself. Digital music represents survival, providing food and clothing; physical records represent life, the pursuit of quality. CDs, born during the transition from the analog to the digital age, now sit teetering on the line between survival and life, neither reaching the upper limit nor the lower limit, offering neither the ultimate convenience nor the most luxurious quality. Don't forget that so-called CD sound quality is actually compressed. The name "Compact Disc" refers not only to its compact size but also to its compression; after all, a standard CD holds only 650MB.
This is just one footnote to the resurgence of vinyl. Buying physical records isn't just about recharging your faith and listening (a function that has been significantly weakened), it's also a financial investment. Its existence is inseparable from a background: the decline of vinyl. Record companies primarily used CDs as the medium for their artists' albums, and vinyl releases were relatively small, even small enough to warrant the label "limited edition." Not all limited editions retain their value, so buying physical records is, to some extent, an investment game, testing and highlighting a music fan's relevant qualities. Some find it tacky, while others revel in it.
