Nowadays, every high school student loves listening to music as much as the next person. Streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are the most used apps on teenagers’ phones. Music apps allow kids to discover new music and listen to whatever they want with the touch of a button. Headphones and earbuds are the most important accessory, but what ever happened to portable CD players? I’m here to boost CDs sales like it’s 2002 again.

Physical copies of music went out of style decades ago. The downfall of CDs, vinyls, and cassette tapes happened when digital music came around in the 2000’s. Digital music was convenient for most people because they could download, share, and listen to music on one device. If they wanted their music all in one spot, burning a disc to create a playlist could be easily done. There was no need for physical music anymore. Vinyls and CDs cost a lot of money, took up tons of room, and were overall unnecessary after MP3s and streaming services became a hit. Physical music sales declined rapidly.

While streaming services are cool and offer countless benefits and features, CDs are even cooler. Who needs a Spotify Wrapped when anyone could have a stack full of exclusive photos that came in a CD instead? For example, both of my 1989 CDs came with 20 different polaroid photos of Taylor Swift. Buying an album on Apple Music would never come with polaroid photos. Similarly, CDs can also come with posters. I’ve had multiple CDs that came with what I thought was a lyric book, but ended up unfolding into a full sized poster. Both of these are great room decorations and are 2-in-1 bundles that can’t be beaten.

CDs are also prettier to look at. We stare at our phones enough, so looking at digital music has no appeal. CDs are physical and it’s entertaining enough just to look at them, let alone listen to them. Each album is creative in its own way. The album cover, the back cover, the photos inside, the lyric booklet, and the CD itself are all designed around the aesthetics of the album. When it comes to streaming services, none of those are ever seen. It is so interesting to see these CDs and the artists’ creative choices. Some of my favorite CDs are the ones with lyric booklets filled with illustrations and pictures. Besides the booklet, the discs themselves can be gorgeous. Some of mine have a picture on them, a cool design, or whatever else the artist wanted to put on there. While they’re essentially just a music filled disc made out of metal and plastic, they’re a new and different way to experience music.

Besides their additions, physical music and merch also benefit the artist directly. In recent years, physical music sales have increased again. People are realizing that when they buy stuff from their favorite artists, they are able to build a bond with them. Artists who rely on both physical music sales and streaming services do much better financially than an artist who only relies on streaming platforms. When it comes to streaming music, artists earn money based on the number of streams they earn. Smaller artists struggle more with this setup because they could earn as little as one cent per stream. When it comes to sales in music and merch, they are able to bring in much more revenue. Selling a single album, no matter what type of physical music it is, can generate more money than thousands of streams on an album. This can make fans more excited to buy music knowing the amount of support they can bring in. Buying the music can also bring a sense of connection. Owning items from an artist can heighten the fan experience.

Physical music is essential to any artist. Not only are cassettes, vinyls, and CDs cool, they also have an effect on the influence of streaming services. Digital music has taken over how people listen to their favorite songs. Physical music is something most people are missing out on. I bought my first CD two years ago. I saw it at Target and it was one of my favorite albums, so I had to buy it. After I opened it, I fell in love with owning music instead of just streaming it. Since then, I’ve bought 60 more CDs and a CD player that I adore. If I like an album, I have to own it. I’ve successfully gotten a couple friends hooked at CDs as well. So next time before a long drive, insert a CD instead of hooking up a phone to the aux cord. It’ll make the drive much more fun.