Some interesting stats from Discogs

@grannyring “In the end I stopped spinning CDs because I am enjoying all the new music I would have missed if not for streaming. Such a Joy!”

100%. This is the greatest benefit of streaming. I signed up with Rhapsody (now Napster) about 20 years ago when it was one of the first on-demand streaming services launched. Streaming has come a LONG way since then, but what’s remained constant is the exposure to tons of artists and musical genres I didn’t even know existed.

This might seem dumb to some, but often when I find a “new to me artist” on a streaming service, I then start searching to find if any of their titles were released on vinyl. I just like owning something physical, I guess. Makes me feel more connected, invested when I have this chunk of plastic in my hands versus a disk drive of 1’s and 0’s.

No, not dumb at all, bjp9738. I think a lot of people do exactly that. I've listened to a lot of music for the first time through my streamer and then hunted it down on cd and vinyl. The streamer sounds great, and I won't get into an argument about "what sounds better/best," but there is something about ownership, and about the tactile and very visceral experience of going through a collection, removing the disc, and playing it. We're not just ears, and that physical connection you mentioned is, for me and many others, a vital part of enjoying the music. The vinyl revival is at least in part of renewing or establishing for the first time that connection.

As a side note, I'm a big St. Vincent fan and she's selling her new album on CD, Vinyl, Cassette, AND 8-track!  

I'm glad because I just found 50 albums in the basement I didn't know I still had. It gives me some place to dump them. 30 years ago they were virtually worthless.