Overheard a teenager call vinyl records 'grandma music' and it stung a bit

I was at a thrift store last Saturday in Portand digging through a bin of old records and this kid maybe 16 years old walks by with his friend and says 'who even buys this grandma music anymore?' and pointed right at my stack. I just laughed it off but it got me thinking. I remember being that age in the 90s and thinking CDs were the only thing that mattered and tapes were ancient history. But now I spend like 20 minutes before every party trying to find the right vintage record to spin and half the time I forget I need to clean the needle first. Makes me wonder what music formats kids today will get nostalgic for in 20 years. Anyone else have a moment where you realized you became the old person in the room?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_logan29d agoMost Upvoted

Right, the ritual part is huge. jake_dixon you nailed it with that phrase "the ritual that sticks with you." It's not just about the sound quality or the crackle, it's the whole process. Like, you have to get up, flip the record, carefully clean it if you forgot, and you can't just skip through a whole album on a whim. It forces you to actually listen to the album as a whole piece of art, not just a shuffled playlist. That teenager calling it grandma music is just missing that we're choosing a more active experience, not being stuck in the past.

jake_dixon1mo ago

Used to roll my eyes at people who swore by vinyl, but then I found a copy of Rumours at a garage sale and now I get it. There's something about the ritual that sticks with you.