The Case for CD Collecting

I know a lot of people are deep into vinyl collecting right now. And I respect it. Vinyl sounds incredible. That warm, full, analog texture—anyone who knows sound will tell you it’s special. But it makes me wonder… why does CD collecting still feel like such a strange concept to people?

I get it. CDs are technically a more compressed format. They don’t offer the same raw fidelity vinyl does. So to most people, it might seem kind of silly to go out of your way to collect them. The clunky players, the gear, the “outdated” tech, all just to hear something that sounds not too far off from a 320kbps file on your laptop.

But for me, it’s never really been about just the sound. It’s about the physicality. I’ve always been drawn to the act of collecting—whether it’s old Pokémon cards, weird kitchen knives, vintage mags from Tokyo. If it’s tangible and meaningful, I want to hold it in my hands. The digital version of something just doesn’t do it for me.

Ok, but still—vinyl is also physical, so why CDs?

Simple. The booklets.

Don’t get me wrong—vinyl covers are iconic. There’s something beautiful about that giant square of art. But most of the time, that’s all you get. Front cover, back cover, maybe a lyric insert. CDs, especially older ones, often come with full booklets. Small photo essays, conceptual layouts, liner notes, artist thoughts, album narratives. And some of them go deep. Really deep.

As someone who edits and publishes a magazine, I get weirdly excited flipping through those layouts. It’s a completely different format than what I normally work in. More compressed, tighter margins, square instead of rectangular. But it somehow inspires me in the same way. Sometimes even more. These little booklets give you the album through three layers—words, sound, visuals. You get to crawl inside the artist’s head in a way that’s harder to do through a screen.

CD collecting is a little harder in the U.S., I’ll admit. Most record stores lean heavy on vinyl, and the CD sections, if they even exist, can feel like afterthoughts. Online it’s not much better. A lot of sellers are based in Japan, and the eBay prices can be pretty inflated. But if you ever find yourself in Japan and you're into CDs, it’s heaven. Pristine cases, perfect discs, everything organized. And most of it is marked down 80 to 90 percent from what you'd pay for the same item online. It’s actually wild.

Do I listen to all of them on CD players right now? Not really. I download most of them to my iTunes and play them that way. But I have this dream setup in my head. Someday, when I have a more permanent home, I’m going to invest in a clean B&O CD console, hook it up to some Adams, and make it the centerpiece of the space. One day.

But even now, even without the dream setup, I still collect. I still flip through the booklets. I still feel inspired by the layouts. That’s really the core of it.

One last note—compilations. If you know, you know. Those weird little CDs that used to come out from festivals, raves, local events. Sometimes they were literally burned straight from a DJ set—tracks mashed up, re-edited, layered in ways that’ll never exist again. These things are like sonic time capsules. I’d love to see that come back. Doesn’t need to be a full festival. Even just a party crew putting out one CD a year. Physical media tied to a moment. That kind of thing sticks with people.

Anyway. If you’re someone who loves print, who gets inspiration from the layout of a magazine or the rhythm of a photo spread, I’d seriously recommend spending some time in a music store with a CD section. I think you'll find a variety of inspiration in a mix of different mediums. Enjoy :)