In days of old, music was most commonly distributed on those big, flimsy plastic disks with weird grooves on them. A needle was placed in the groove and, magically, a sound came out of the speakers. That big, flimsy plastic disk is called a gramophone record, and it was the best way to listen to music.
Now, of course, it's not the most convenient way to listen to music. It's much easier to rip a whole album off the internet and store it on a computer or a cell phone so you have something to listen to while you take a shower. Chances are, this is good enough for most people. Pressing the sideways triangle on a phone screen is not laborious. However, if you are serious about music, vinyl is your friend.
Some might say that hipsters are obsessed with vintage items and are living in the past. What makes a hipster a hipster is completely subjective. Stereotypes exist for hipsters, but collecting and listening to vinyl records does not make you a hipster in the same way that doing extreme sports and drinking Foster's doesn't make you Australian.
For serious music lovers, vinyl records are the epitome of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." New-fangled digital music files are compressed, making the sound lack any sort of depth. Records are analog recordings and are not compressed, so the sound stays the same. Of course, vinyl can be nightmarishly bad when it goes wrong.
A major drawback of vinyl is that a damaged or dirty record is utterly disheartening to hear. Imagine the peak of your favorite song. Let's say that song is Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. Just as the song peaks with the guitar solo starting around the six-minute mark, the record begins skipping. Just the same three seconds over and over again. It's soul-crushing, really. Taking care of records is vital to enjoying them.
Of course, cleaning a record is easier than you'd think: just some lightly soapy water (no dyes or fragrances), a little rubbing alcohol, and a special record-cleaning brush. Then, to clean the stylus (the proper name for the needle) another special brush is used to avoid damaging the extremely delicate tip. Making sure to store your records upright and not just in a great big pile on the floor, but in a nice, plastic record sleeve. You should be good to go. This seems like a lot of work, right?
That's the thing. Taking care of, collecting, and storing vinyl records is a lot of work. However, when you work hard for something, the payoff is that much sweeter. Also, I reiterate: the sound quality is unmatched.
Don't do music quick and dirty; fall in love with music and care for it like the circular plastic disk wherein your favorite tunes are stored. Put the needle to the groove and hang out for a while. You love music, music loves you back. You'll feel the music make your hair stand on end, put you to bed, wake you up, and get you in the mood. You want the best for your music, so make it vinyl. If uptight iPod enthusiasts think loving vinyl is wrong, would you want to be right?
