We live in a highly digital world. Smartphones have given us constant and instant access to all kinds of information. Living in the digital age has a number of advantages and conveniences. The answer to any innocuous question we may have is just a few taps away. We can pay our bills online, and we can even make payments in the store by tapping our phone against the card reader.

Technology advancing at such a rapid pace is a great thing, but in order to move forward, we’ve had to make a few sacrifices along the way. While physical media still exists, it is slowly but surely moving towards all digital.

Services like iTunes and Spotify have been pushing the music industry in that direction for years now, and online stores for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are doing similar things for gaming. No matter how grand and advanced technology becomes, there is one major event that definitely won’t be changing, though -- and that is live music.

Listening to music is one of my favorite hobbies. I do it everyday, and get a huge kick out of analyzing music structure and composition. As much as I love just zoning out with my noise cancelling headphones, even I can’t deny that there’s something special about going to a concert.

Whenever I’m listening to music in a quiet room with my headphones on, I can really appreciate the effort that went into the composition. The setting allows me to listen to musical intricacies and background accompaniments that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to hear.

One major benefit to album recordings is the fact that they have been fine tuned to near perfection. There are no peaks or squeaks in the singer’s voices; you won’t really hear any hiccups in the instruments. In short, you’re getting to hear the songs as the artist envisioned them.

Live music offers a different, but equally satisfying experience. I can’t really explain it, but there’s a certain beauty to the flaws and imperfections that come with a live performance. I’ve even seen cases where people fell in love with certain songs after hearing them live.

I’ll be the first to say that I love the conveniences that have come along with services such as Spotify. I listen to music all the time, and is probably one of, if not, my most used app. Although I’ll never stop loving the idea of just getting lost with music, I have to admit that no type of digital or virtual experience will ever come close to matching the feeling of a live concert.