Library employee here, hopping on to remind people that libraries tend to have large CD collections for patrons to browse and check out! Some libraries even have listening stations in-house, or disc readers you can check out. And it's free! I'm always going to recommend checking out your library's collection if you want to get back into physical media (bonus perk is that, at most libraries, it's also free to sign up for a card).

I’m a high school teacher, and even the kids are talking about the importance of physical media nowadays. Universal taking their music off of TikTok was a huge wake up call to them tbh

HELLO MICHAEL T SNARE IM THAT DUDE YOU MET AT THAT ONE SHOW LAST YEAR (it was caroline polachek!!!) I hope you also are doing amazing as well and yes I still love Good At Falling :))

Who's up Mic'in there Snare rn

It feels expensive buying CDs because we’re all conditioned to not buy media anymore. Between Netflix, Spotify, free-to-play games, Game Pass, etc, we’re just used to not owning anything. It’s all subscriptions.

A good middleground is MP3 players. The physical size is pocket-compatible, and you get the convenience and breadth of a digital library with none of the distractions a phone desperately tries to seduce you with. I'm still using a SanDisk Sansa, and since physical buttons are king, even with wired earbuds I can still navigate tracks from pocket.

The thing we take for granted with physical media is the art design. We only see the front cover on streaming when theres a back cover, liner notes, gatefold. Some records came with posters and lyrics and other goodies.

‘Audio gobbler’ is wild

I actually find myself listening to the radio a lot because...I sometimes feel exhausted by choice. I also like the idea of people all across my city sorta maybe listening to the same thing at once. We're so in our own bubbles and disconnected from each other nowadays.

I’m 24, I started buying CD’s regularly when I was 17. My first car didn’t have an aux port or Bluetooth connectivity. It gave me a deep appreciation for the format and the idea of committing to just one album. I spent a lot of time driving to and from school and delivering pizzas, and it taught me to love prog rock/metal, specifically Periphery II. I spun that CD so many times in that old Jeep that it skips consistently at the end of the second track. Not necessarily anything of importance or relevance, but it’s cool to see other people appreciate the format that people still think I’m crazy for enjoying more than Apple Music or Spotify.

Hey, the Chicken Little soundtrack is surprisingly loaded tho.

seeing mic in places other than him talking to cameras in his rooms [which are him talking to his cameras in OTHER rooms] was actually really nice to see! love your content man!

You know who'd be a GREAT pick for a DDD? Everything Everything. Yet another British band with a wide discography, and they're not too well known, so the DDD format would be a perfect introduction to them! Please consider. Their new album Mountainhead JUST CAME OUT!

i like to listen to music off of CDs, the radio and digital files, i have apple music but i really enjoy sitting down and listening to stuff i own or stuff off of the radio

As an avid vinyl/cd collector, I really enjoyed this video. Sometimes, I feel the need to reavaluate my consumption habits, and I think this video helped shed a light on that. Thank you, Mr. Snare (We need a full performance of Billions, though)

That Electronic album you passed at 17:00 is super good, it’s a collab album between Benard Summner of New Order, Johnny Marr of The Smiths, and Pet Shop Boys! Highly recomend checking it out!

I decided to start revamping my CD collection this year too! I think owning physical copies of albums can really help you appreciate them more as “art” rather than solely “content.” Plus, it’s a more effective way to support smaller artists since lord knows streaming doesn’t pay well

I absolutely DID NOT expect "Naacho Naacho" to be mentioned, but said mention did send me through several layers of dry wall. Really cool to here references to a song that my PARENTS listen to lol. Love your content!

I also had the chicken little soundtrack on CD, it was absolute flames in my 5 year old pea brain mind and I am definitely not blinded by nostalgia

As somebody that’s been trying to transition from tv/movie streaming to watching my old physical media collection (or more accurately converting and watching them through Jellyfin), this couldn’t have come at a perfect time

I like experiments like this. I've been through vinyl, 8-track, cassettes, and CDs prior to the streaming age, so seeing someone who's just hit the last bit of that history of physical media in music go through this is fascinating. I usually set myself a challenge around this time of year, so I'm listening to emo and emo-adjacent music for 40 days. The genre's fairly unfamiliar to me, so I experience a bunch of new music every day. Working inside a limitation uncovers a lot of stuff I hadn't noticed before. Hope you do more things like this!

So my aunt started moving later last year and has been giving me CD’s as she cleans out her old home, the audio quality difference is amazing but what’s even better is discovering artist such as U2 or Honeymoon Suite, and it’s amazing how we’ve all paid to be convenienced. I don’t think my mom understands why I’m keeping so many but it’s the matter of what happens if digital media falls or we see a revival of CD’s like we are with vinyl. Overall I just really like the points your making Mic they truly resonate with me and keep me eager to find more artists (also I had that James Taylor CD before you lol)

I feel like returning to manual download, or even buying an mp3 player, has basically all of the benefits with less of the downsides. Thank you for the crash twinsanity ost usage btw lol

When you mentioned at the end of the video that we should do something about the fact that we're losing touch with art that we love because of content (bad paraphrasing), that really hit me. I've been really hating jumping on a bandwagon, instead of listening to the random quiet/spacial music that I absolutely love

btw, you don't need to "keep up" with music. You can just find the music you like, and just listen to it on repeat, then maybe when you randomly find some new songs you like, you can add that to the list of music you listen to on repeat. That is how I do it, and it works great. (though I often just put on one or two songs I want to listen to, and just listen to it on repeat)

Mic is much more stylish than I expected Thus video is so delightful particularly with your editing style

i love collecting records, discover a song i had taken for granted before... it's such a feeling

i just love seeing one of the best music reviewers out there to openly embrace the power of cd's. this makes me feel a bit less stupid to still buy them haha

I enjoy seeing what Mr Snare wears in the real world. I like the winter hat

weirdly impeccable timing! I also quit streaming, but for completely different reasons (and for the forseeable future, not just for a month). Economically, streaming makes me anxious - I don't like knowing I'm "buying" music, or movies, tv shows, anything, that can just be removed off the platform, or changed. It doesn't really feel like owning it. So I went back to an old iPod, have been slooowly (album by album) downloading music I had saved on spotify to itunes and just knowing I'll have this music forever, and I get to stay with my most prized favorites, is delightful! Great video :)

This makes me so happy because I’ve been slowly collecting CDs (and am just starting to collect cassette tapes too… we’ll get to vinyl eventually lol) for a couple years now and so many people think I’m crazy for it. But I have huge anxiety problems and (even without social media) there genuinely is something so comforting and grounding to me about having physical media on you: feeling the vibrations, having to go out of your way to press the buttons, using headphones that connect directly etc.. This is going to sound cheesy but it genuinely is a nice reminder that I’m still alive and here. And I always tell people that I’m living in the best time for it because I still have the option to go to streaming if I really want to! And the fact that I can choose between the two serves as a nice reminder that I still have agency even amidst the internet.

I transferred my 300+ CD collection to digital back in 2012-13. My vinyl collection got a bit bigger since then, but otherwise, I listen to mp3s. I do not regret it, and I tend to listen to a lot of full albums. I do feel you on not being able to keep up. There's a lot of music, and my branching out has had to be whittled down. I know I'm missing something great out there, but hopefully someone I respect turns me in that direction.

you know it's a great day when mic drops a new video

Justin Timberlake fan here and yes, Man of the Woods suck, but you should listen to the track Montana. it’s the best track in the album

Back in 2019 I lived several months in a home without internet, I was only able to go to a library for an hour or two each week to do practical things online and I rationed my limited phone data so I could use it for navigation apps. I soon discovered all my CDs were from when I was a young teenager and felt really cringe all these years later. I also discovered how much music I love that I don't physically own. Noting what songs you miss is a neat idea. Wish I'd thought of that. I also found that I paid more attention to things, my day felt more intentional and life felt a lot slower. Apart from times I'd be stressed trying to plan out the practical things people were pressuring me to do online only. I also found it made me more in tune with what's left of popular culture. I watched what was live on TV, I listened to music that I bought after I had over heard it in a store or on the radio. I do remember times before the internet but living it again in your older years is interesting.

One of my favorite videos you've made! Thanks Mic!

totally agree with what you said at the end--i'm taking a social media break and feel a lot less overwhelmed by all of the music discourse. i actually have been returning to a lot of favorite albums I hadn't thought of in a while!

Even though I have a subscription to Spotify, I actively don't use it to listen to new music. I make playlists with a huge majority of the songs that I have in my music collection, whether it be physically or digitially purschased. I get a hold of new music from friend recommendations, seeing what pops up in my social network feeds, and looking through the internet. I suppose it is more work than what most people would want to deal with, but I find it very satisfying, and it is always great hearing something new that connects with you, Enjoying the video!

What an amazing video. I've been trying to get more into CDs over the last few years and it is definitely a great experience (partially because of you constantly showing off your collection). I love driving to the sound of a CD and actually paying attention to everything as opposed to hopping from song to song on Spotify.

Very happy we get to see the different fits Mr. Snare wears in his day to day life. The drip is off the charts! 📈

I really appreciated this reflective vlog type of video (and the glimpses of Cat the Snare), it also reminded me of how much I love CDs as a medium to connect with music and that I really need to repair my CD player 🥲 lots of greetings from Germany!

i loved this style of video, definitely keep making more of these! i'm buying my favorite albums on CD to have this sense of belonging, just like how i buy my favorite books. and that's a great way to spend money wisely, you don't need to buy every single thing you like, just buy what's more precious to you and you'll never regret the money you invested

One of my favorite videos of yours yet, keep it up Michael T. Snare!

I Iove CDs and collecting them

Oh wow, I was at the Harvard Square Newbury comics last weekend for the Bleachers listening party! Small world, hope to see you at a concert sometime to say thank you for making awesome videos like this one!

This was a unique and fun concept for a video! Almost 2 years ago I started a vinyl record collection because I wanted physical copies of the music I dearly love, and getting the chance to play a record and actually take time to listen to it is an experience all of its own.

obsessed with this type of video and it’s not just because your peacoat / aviator / cd fanny pack look is so precious

Great video. I'm a fan of the secret third option: listen to files not streaming, mostly ripped CDs, Bandcamp downloads and bundled downloads from vinyl.

While I didn’t fully quit streaming, I started prioritizing it less back in 2021 and made CD’s my primary listening platform! It’s done a lot in shaking my relationship with music for a lot of the reasons you explained! I feel less anxious about being ‘up to date’ and I find my self a lot more connected to the music I love! Another interesting effect it’s had is that I’m not invested as much into listening to playlists. I might put one on now and then but I tend to vastly prefer listening to whole albums. Funny how things can work like that. But yea great vid!

Love this video !!! It would be so cool to do a video on Eurovision, it would be so different !

This is an instant favorite video of mine on this channel. Please please please do more in this style as well as other formats that echo this more personal commentary in regards to music and music related things. Thanks!

I loved watching you geek out about music in the moment in real life. That was really nice and charming to see. Would absolutely love to see more video formats like this from ya.

I've done this before! A few times. Streaming is really convenient but CDs just give me that personal connection to the music that I love.

I stopped listening to music while commuting and embraced CD listening more. Together with leaving my phone at home more often when I leave the house this has been game changing. I'm not self interrupting my thoughts by looking at my phone, and I don't skip songs as often anymore. Music feels more like a goody to me than before. I enjoy it more conciously. Sitting down and listening to a song feels like having a nice glass of wine. And my sleeping improved a lot. I enjoyed your perspective on this!

I'm not a "disc fanatic" myself, I carry music on mp3 for practicality. But I always keep an archive of discs, not just music but computer files too, on laser disc as they are effectively immune to solid-state bit rot and hard drive failure. I do still use streaming to browse and preview media, but the songs I buy get burned to disc so I own them forever.

Ok I'm back after watching and this was such a fascinating experiment! Especially when you talked about how so much music doesn't have a "home"--that totally activated my librarian brain and now I kind of want to do my own deep dive on music (and other intellectual property) that doesn't have a "home" and how that affects the distribution of information etc. So thank you! I've also been taking a bit of a pause from social media and starting to read more (a librarian reading?? What will she do next? 😂) and it's been so great for my mental health. Case in point: I'm seeing The Strokes tonight and while concerts are normally a bit anxiety-inducing for me, I spent half my day reading and I'm the calmest I think I've ever been at a show. May have to build up my CD collection now, I'm determined to get it to a point where it rivals my book collection! Also I would love to see more of these kinds of videos although I could never ask you to go a month without music. That's like going a month without food! I'm sure anyrhing you come up with would be super cool though. I'll for sure be watching!

2:13 Who’s that lady is a great song! Love the interpolation on Kendrick Lamar’s i

Oh gosh. Most of the music I listen to isn't available in any physical form at all. I adore physical media and want so badly to preserve it, but I could never live this way as things are right now because... I would be missing most of my music. I would be so sad. I don't think I could ever become someone who uses the radio (never have been!) because I don't listen to most of what is played on there and I feel the desire to skip and loop my own music in private too much to even just let Spotify play randomly lol

Just got introduced to this channel for the first time by searching online for “What are the best music related KZfaq channels” and after a few videos today I’m hooked. Thanks for the content, humor, and general great discourse on the overall topic of music! Looking forward to binging this channel over the next few weeks/months!

Love the slightly different style of video keep up the good work your videos make my day

An all radio month would be cool. When I worked security, I ended up listening to the radio more than I ever had. I found myself surfing the various radio stations. I'd listen to modern rock, then 90s country, then oldies. Rediscovered lots of songs

There's also a case of "owning" the media you like to be made here. Spotify, Netflix, even gaming companies now, have made it so that everything we consume we do not own, but instead it is lent to us for an extended period of time. They can get rid of it if they deem it necessary, if you don't pay, or if they don't want the music from a specific artist for whatever reason anymore. Sometimes even the artists themselves can take the music away (ie Neil Young, Joni Mitchell). With physical media (and even downloadable tracks in the past like in ITunes), you own the media, nobody can take it away from you.

Great video as always! Would definitely love more videos in this format, though me personally would love anything you put out on this channel! Keep up the phenomenal (and funny!) work ❤

I loved this video and would love more like it for sure! I have been collecting vinyl records for a few years now as well and I’m a big supporter of supporting artists

I do miss physical media but the convenience of online streaming is so good.

Feels like you made this harder for yourself by listening to the CDs directly. Ripping to a lossless format and getting a player that supports that high quality audio will always be the happy middle ground between physical media and streaming. Also- buying CDs from non music-focused places like thrift shops and library sales will always be better than buying used from a music store imo. Unless it's something specific I'm hunting for- I don't spend more than a dollar per CD these days. EDIT - you can also keep up with single releases until albums come out physically without a streaming sub using KZfaq/YTMusic really easily.

This was awesome Mic! I definitely think having an entertainment diet is essential to a healthy lifestyle. Please do more videos on this. I was thinking about getting back into collecting because of not being distracted by social media, in other words it’s a better balance and diet for me. But, this is a fascinating thing.

1:34 is the music video for can't cool me down by Car Seat Headrest. I hope this is a sign that we are getting a new DDD, but if not, it is also just cool knowing that Mic knows if them

Amazing video 😊 I’d love to see you make a discog dive on the pixies 😁😁

Excellent video Mr. The Snare. This is why I subscribe. Would love to see more fun, experimental videos like this

good video as always mr the snare, i don’t listen to streaming anymore for general playlist shuffling, i just listen to mp3s

I was wondering if you would ever do something like this. I’d love to see more vlogs-ish videos like this. Thanks for making it!

I quit streaming and spent the money I would on a subscription on bandcamp, then the artists get a bigger cut and I get to keep the files.

this video reminded me that i need to pare back my apple music library a bit. i always add more to it than i can listen to so having to really sit down and decide what music i'm interested in listening to in the future and what i could live without hearing is helpful

i looove this video so much and i feel like it can really help me with doing something about this whole life thank youuuu so much❤❤❤

I only listen to music on streaming on my first listens where I'm unsure if I'm going to enjoy myself, from there I buy a digital copy or a CD, rip that and put it on my modded ipod, that becomes my permanent music home. It comes with a lot of the benefits that you have with the CD Player, but far more convenient in terms of size, as it fits in any pocket at all. I've never gotten comfortable with airpods though so I've never actually transitioned to wireless full time. I've had dozens of those apple lightning to 3.5mm dongles though :p

I started last year. Never looked back.

Loved the video, I'd def be up for more experiments like this. I believe it's so important for us to slow down our consumption of _stuff_

I love this video so much Mr Michael the Snare! I would love to see followups on vinyl or radio (maybe even specifically college radio as I work at one and have been falling in love with it)

YES

I feel like having a balance between streaming and CDs is important.

I loved seeing a bit of a different video from you here! Really enjoyed this!

i loved this format please keep it up

A moment of silence for all of the missed scrobbles.

Idk why but i kept pausing on shots of your record collection and its actually very good (i did notice a severe lack of red hot chili peppers but i can let it slide this time)

This was awesome, good job michael snare. I also love that you have in rainbows in your vinyl collection and that you like death cab for cutie. I saw them this summer and they were absolutely amazing. Cheers.

I loved this and definitely would like to see more of this type of video! I think it'd be great if you did it with vinyl because I collect vinyl so it'd be particularly interesting for me. Good stuff, as always 🎤!! 🖤

my car doesn't have bluetooth so i''ve been living this life for the past 10 years. you arent special mr. snare get BROKE

Seems like instead of CDs you needed an iPod

beautiful video man, been thinking of doing this myself

great video, im slowly collecting my favorite albums and albums recommended by friends on CD and starting to collect physical media after seeing my favorite media get taken down or extremtely hard to find in general.

Why not just download the mp3 files and keep them on your phone storage? This whole "experiment" is not very well thought out

WHY ARENT YOU LISTENING TO THINGS THROUGH SPEAKERS IN YOUR HOUSE why would you use earphones/headphones when you don’t have to

Hey buddy, Happy Belated Birthday! Sorry about your finger, love the cat!

One of my favorite videos of yours Mr. Snare

Ready for the vinyl and cassette videos

Music is one of the things I love the most, and I've been feeling disconected to it for years now. Thank you for this video :)

I’m watching this video for the first time since I’ve lost my mind and decided to get into CDs. Really interesting to see your thoughts on this as someone a little more closely connected to music than I! Also as a displaced New Englander I didn’t think I would get nostalgic for Boston winters :(

Love the video. Would love to see you do another one like this.

one of my favourite recent purchases is a little alarm radio. Although I wish I could nose about at all the weirdness on AM and LW as well, picking up on local pirate stations, and late night radio (which is elite) is really exciting when I'm in the mood for it! I'd be interested to see a radio only challenge, especially to discover more about American radio as a Brit.