Spotify’s popularity is steady, but many in the Barstow community choose to listen to their favorite tunes through other methods.
Music is something that many hold quite close to their heart. It’s a form of expression that has been used by artists for a long while. It’s everywhere. You hear it while at your monthly trip to Costco for samples, and your late-night runs to Target to carelessly spend money, and (occasionally) your walk from your car to the Barstow front door when the speaker happens to be booming some fascinating tune.
In its essence, music cannot be escaped, and this notion is why many people simply choose to inject themselves with the songs they prefer rather than absorb whatever abysmal strain is playing on the speakers. In this tech-conditioned day and age, there are all kinds of methods for people to play the music they like. The most popular is through smart devices with apps like Spotify and Apple Music due to their convenience. However, some people choose to listen to their songs differently, such as me and others in the Barstow community, namely through CDs and vinyl records.
I am a lover of CDs. Much of the music I like is sold in CD and album form, so I collect them. I quite like to listen to music through a CD player because it removes the usage of Spotify, something that usually ends up being a distraction, and helps me to focus.
Using a CD player has not personally yielded any better sound quality than what I hear while using a Sony headset or iPhone speakers, likely due to the fact that my player is not the highest in quality, but I don’t consider this a large fault. Provided that music in itself can be very distracting, I take great pleasure in utilizing CDs as a sort of background noise while I go around my business.
CDs also help keep the vibe consistent as it’s all one album. No focus is spent on wondering what will next appear while my disorganized playlist is on shuffle; rather, I am aware of what songs are on a CD when I play it, and I choose to adjust to the mood of that CD during those moments. It also makes me feel like I’m not wasting the CD.
Some other CD-preferring students imparted to me another common sentiment that added to their enjoyment of CDs.
“You get to collect [the CDs]…I know you can just listen to it on Spotify, but it’s more fun to put it in and play it,” Andrea Lee ‘26 said. She shared that using CDs adds a sense of personalness to the music, because “they make me get to know the album” more than on a platform where music is more easily changeable.
Avid CD collector Mariya Khan ‘26 sympathized with Lee’s former point, expressing that she uses CDs very frequently because she enjoys buying physical albums.
Vinyl records, a form of music-playing that is more popular among the older folk, are commonly utilized by English teacher Mr. Luce.
“What I like about vinyl is that it takes me back in time. I’m eight years old, putting on my folks’ records…or, now, I’m older, and Jen and I listen to a Lucinda Williams record or a jazz record while we have dinner,” said Luce. “There is definitely a nostalgia to it.”
Luce noted very clearly that vinyl is not always his first choice, saying he still listens to Spotify more than anything else because of convenience, and his monthly records-listened count is usually around five or six. He indicated that the enjoyment factor of playing music from a record player is quite different from that of simply playing a song off his phone.
Luce said his usage of vinyl is is usually dependent on whatever he happens to be doing. “If I’m having dinner, or maybe I’m gonna sit down and read, I’m probably listening to a record.” He notes that this has become an experience for the whole family. “Some nights, we would sit and maybe have dinner and listen to a record, and then maybe hang out in the living room and read, or do something, and listen to four or five records.”
Music can be enjoyed in many different ways, and each method has its own pros and cons. If you plan to explore new ways of listening to your favorite tunes, keep in mind the B-Line’s tip of the day: if you buy a CD or vinyl player with the intent of achieving better sound quality, a cheap price may not always get what you’re looking for. This tip is sourced from personal experience and a hint (much more than hint, actually) of regret. Of course, streaming on Spotify also pays its dues.
Happy music listening! Or not, if you’re not happy or a music listener.
