How you like your music best is a matter of personal taste. Some people are strong advocates of vinyl, while others are most enthusiastic about CDs. MP3s and other electronic music formats are the preferred format of many, and there are still people who listen to cassettes and 8 tracks, as well. The advantages to MP3s and electronic music files are immediate and obvious. If space is at a premium, you'll be delighted that a portable device the size of a box of playing cards can carry thousands of songs. If you always resented purchasing an entire CD just to get a single song that you wanted, you'll also be delighted with the flexibility of purchasing music electronically. Typically, you can pay for a single song or any combination of songs from an album at a per-song price. CDs, however, are still by far the most common format for music. They have a cleaner sound than vinyl, and eliminate the pops and crackles that you get on a record. They're also smaller, less fragile, and more convenient; you can pop a CD in and choose which tracks you want to listen to instantly, instead of having to flip a record that only fits four to six songs on a side. While LP production has dwindled to a miniscule percentage of music production, there is still a demand for new vinyl, as well as for old copies of albums. Some audiophiles claim that they can hear the sounds of electricity on a CD, and that vinyl provides a truer bass sound. Jazz and classical are the two genres in which the LP trade is still most prevalent, but there is also a flourishing movement in new indie rock vinyl, as well.
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