'I like Anita Baker. I wanna hear her. I won't remember that she's even alive.'
We hold our material possessions close to our hearts especially if they have an emotional sentiment attached to them. In a world where minimalism is becoming increasingly popular, there are still things that we will never get rid of and for this mother, it's her collection of CDs. In a viral TikTok video posted by Hayden Begley, she explains her mother's attachment to her CDs. She starts the video by showing a long table filled with old records and says, "This is my family's collection of CDs. We don't even have a CD player BTW."
She starts saying, "And what I am trying to make them understand…" when she is cut off by her mother who loudly declares that she doesn't care what her daughter has to say. The mother added, "I'm keeping the CDs. I got rid of my albums and they came back. I'm not letting this," suggesting that she got rid of her albums and they are back in trend now and maybe the CDs will too.
The daughter replies, "Okay, but here's the thing is that if you like a song on here I could play it faster than you'd be able to open this." The mother replies by saying, "No remember the songs I like, I like seeing them and go, 'Oh I like Oingo Boingo. I like Anita Baker. I wanna hear her. I won't remember that she's even alive.' "
The video correctly portrays that the physical form of music in the form of CDs and records is a different experience than just doing a quick search on your music app. Many TikTok users said that they should keep the CDs as they are priceless to which Hayden replied, "Just to be clear: I only wanted to get rid SOME of the CDs. There were over two hundred (I’m not joking) and they DONT HAVE A CD PLAYER."
You don't respect the classics if you think this physical media should be removed. You can delete digital media, and it can be gone forever, but you can't deny that the classics should be preserved. Respect this mother. https://t.co/i8F6nZT9ye
— 🐺GunBunny🐺 (@gunbunny15) October 26, 2022
Most people said that Hayden's mother is not doing anything wrong in keeping her collection. One user said, "If they're not yours, no need to do anything. I'm with Mom." Another commented, "You will never understand what it was like going to a record store and buying it." A third user chimed in, "Sony makes a 200 disc player. Just get one of those. They’re not that big. And all CDs would be stored and playable. Done."
Hard to 100% say whether CDs will have financial value in the future, but if my Korn, Weezer, Lincoln Park, and Limp Bizkit CDs have value to me then I'm keeping em regardless lol
— Battle Athlete (@BATTLE_ATHLETE) October 26, 2022
It like saying physical Video Games have no value cause you can just download and emulate the Rom. pic.twitter.com/8JCpIEvmV3
The comments reveal that majority of the people who have these physical forms of albums and songs keep them even though they don't have a CD player. A user noted, "Keep them. Not all albums are on streaming services. Cover art, liner notes, etc.)" Another emphasized the fact that not all albums are available in digital forms by commenting, "The fact that people are collecting cassette tapes now, it’s worth holding on. Also, several CDs I own aren’t on digital platforms currently, sadly."
when streaming services die
— Bruce Levenstein (@BruceLevenstein) May 29, 2016
when the cloud collapses
when hard drives fail
you'll come begging to copy my CDs
I'll look down and whisper No
The video was also reposted on Twitter by Bead Esposito and has gathered over 175k likes with thousands of comments. A person tweeted, "CDs are going to come back. Paying for streaming is getting annoying, playlists aren’t great and now there are more ads." Another added, "I do not understand the disrespect today's generation has towards physical media. It lasts forever and I love being able to revisit things I had as a kid," while posting their own collection of CDs.
It isn't clear if CDs are ever going to come back, however, they do hold a sentimental value for people who own them. It is a great piece of history and the most authentic form of music that dates back decades.
The audible gasp I made when her mom said “I like Anita Baker” and the child said “WHO” in the background. https://t.co/haNfHj6iw3 pic.twitter.com/ypYb2j1K1t
— A Bitch Writing Her Album 🎶♥️ (@ChynnaTown11) October 26, 2022
mad respect to vocaloid community for instilling love for cds to me. it's great how cd culture in japan still lives. all these additional booklets and merch coming with it are so aesthetically pleasing https://t.co/swrphiumAQ
— color🦇 (@akai1ro) October 28, 2022
Others have already said what needs to be said about this so I'll add the tangent that "making someone a playlist" where it's a link to Spotify takes ALL the goddamn romance out of using Nero Burning ROM to burn your crush a playlist of mid-2000s emo songs on a 700MB Verbatim https://t.co/Vh6e0MSdxP
— Hipólita of the Lily Tribe 🏳️⚧️ 🇦🇷 ☭ (@panarin_misha) October 27, 2022
Gen Z need to understand that physical media is the only way you can actually own a piece of entertainment. If you are using a streaming service, you are leasing it from a tech giant who can take it away from you at any moment. https://t.co/kU2putkBto
— Tom Broome-Jones (@TBroomey) October 27, 2022