My motivations for getting involved with vinyl aren't particularly unique,
but just in case this is your first exposure to this hobby...

1. It's Inconvenient. You gotta take part in the iconic ritual of taking the disc outta the cover, gently placing onto the center of the turntable, dropping the needle on the very edge of the record, and you gotta flip it over halfway through. And theres no portability, no shuffling, and no playlists. Yeah, it's a slow process, but it forces you to listen. Think about it, if slowing down really is so bad, how come the most depressed and jaded people tend to be those who never get to do that? Maybe slowing down is just what we need nowadays, in our breakneck pace hyper-information age. I think the inconvenience also gives you a deeper understanding of your music tastes and your relationship with it. What's that song you can listen to on repeat over and over again on Spotify? Well, if you really do love it so much, surely you'll have no problem walking over to the turntable and dropping the needle back onto it, right? Are you curious how much you'd still love music if it wasn't right there in your pocket? This is a great way to find out.

2. It's Physical. That makes a bigger difference than a lotta folks realize. How much of what we see and hear on our phones actually sticks with us? It may entertain the shit out of us but at the end of the day if it's not real, or at least not happening in out real lives, how valuable can it really be? Most of it is just content. Vinyls are more than that! It's cool being able to actually hold the music you like in your hands! Not only that, but a lot of vinyl releases come with cool extra stuff! Neat artwork, lyric sheets, something the artist wanted to say, and sometimes even booklets! You can also use the covers as decorations, there are people who don't even have record players who buy vinyls for that purpose and for everything else I've listed. They're collectables, keepsakes, they're yours.

3. Da Record Store! Going to the record store is always a great time! I can explore new sounds and artists in a way the algorithm won't let us anymore. Even if there was no algorithm, flipping through all the different vinyls is so much more fun and engaging than scrolling on my phone. Tucked below the vinyls they have on display are shelves with easliy a couple thousand other vinyls. Thanks to the listening station, you don't even need to buy anything! Most vinyls are unwrapped, so you can give em a test spin and listen to as many as you want before making a single purchase. Keep in mind, we're just talking about vinyls here. Thats not to mention the countless CD's if that's more your style!(and budget lol) If that wasn't cool enough, my local record store also doubles as a media vendor, and has tons of movies, shows, games, graphic novels, and all kinds of other novelty goods! It's also a more social experience, the customers and employees are all super knowledgeble and more than happy to discuss this hobby with you! Even when I was a kid and didn't fully appreciate it, it was still a super cozy and welcoming atmosphere. What I now realize is that's because walking through those doors is like stepping out of the cold and convenient digital age and into a warmer and slower past, where inconvenience and technical limitations forced us to connect with and rely on each other. Even as a child with no knowledge of any of this, I felt that warmth.