Why I Own an MP3 Player

Although many people view MP3 players as an obsolete relic of the late 90s and the 2000s, portable music players still have a place in the age of streaming. After having spent years relying on music streaming services for almost all of my music consumption, I recently obtained an MP3 player. Although I still frequently use Spotify and believe that streaming services have their place in media consumption, I have found my MP3 player to be a useful addition to my methods of consuming music because of the main benefits that it offers.

Ownership of music

Currently, the dominant method of consuming music is through subscription services such as Spotify and Apple Music. Because of this, many people own little to no music; they merely rent it. This distribution model benefits consumers by allowing them to access massive music libraries for around the price of a single digital album—or cheaper if using a student account. However, streaming services are inherently impermanent, requiring users to continue paying the subscription fee in order to access their music. Also, changes in streaming rights can remove albums from streaming services. For example: my reliance on Spotify once resulted in me losing the ability to legally listen to the album “Dopesmoker” by Sleep until the band re-released the album under their new record label. By owning music, whether physically through CDs and records or digitally through files, users have the ability of preserving and archiving their music libraries without being tied to monthly payments and being at the mercy of shifting streaming rights.

Supporting artists

While the downsides of music streaming services for consumers are currently minor, the subscription model that has dominated the music industry is detrimental to the artists themselves, particularly smaller artists. According to Pitchfork, Spotify pays artists $3 for 1,000 streams. While this is still an effective way to earn money for large mainstream artists such as Taylor Swift, who has billions of streams on Spotify, small and underground bands struggle to make money through streaming models. By purchasing music, rather than streaming it, listeners can better support artists financially. Although purchased media does not inherently require an MP3 player, with many types of media being playable through devices such as turntables and CD players, MP3 players give listeners the same convenience and portability they get from listening to music on their phone.

Music quality

With streaming services, even downloaded files are compressed, limiting the audio quality of music listened to through these services. By purchasing or ripping lossless audio files such as .flac files, listeners can consume higher-quality audio than they would through services such as Spotify. Depending on the music being consumed, this increase in quality can be important: someone listening to “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” by Jimi Hendrix, for example, will benefit substantially from the increased depth and clarity of uncompressed audio files.

-Battery Life

While digital music files can be downloaded onto smartphones, listening to music on these devices often drains the battery quickly, limiting users’ ability to utilize other functions of their phones. Many MP3 players, however, can be used for several days before they need to be charged, allowing users to listen to music without worrying about whether their device will need to be charged before the day is over.

Less reliance on a smartphone

Modern society has become over-reliant on smartphones in daily life. While having such a multifunctional device in our pockets and bags has benefits, smartphones, with their different functionalities competing for our attention, are often distracting and overstimulating. Having a device with the sole function of playing music can help prevent music listening from introducing distractions. When listening to music on a phone, changing the track can often turn into replying to text messages or scrolling. I have personally found that listening to music on an MP3 player allowed me to avoid being distracted by my phone for longer, as I did not constantly have my phone attached to me, disrupting my workflow with every buzz.

Although portable music players are not the best option for all consumers of music, I have found my MP3 player indispensable and am excited to continue building my music collection. Although subscription music services such as Spotify have their place, I urge all fans of music to consider alternatives to these services, whether that means purchasing an MP3 player or supporting your local record store by collecting physical media.