The Record Listening Muscle: Turning Discogs’ Dis/Connect Day Into Weeks, Months, and Years
Last week, Discogs announced an initiative called, “Dis/Connect,” a global day on October 18th that encourages distance from one’s digital devices, especially from music streaming, in order to embrace physical record listening. Of course, upon seeing this headline, I knew I had to discuss the concept here on the blog. With this announcement in-line with my musings on streaming data in November, binge listening in February, Liz Pelly’s book in May, and Cincinnati’s Analog Fair in June, this entry is something of an installment in a series of reflections on the ever-increasing impulse to reconnect with physical media in the age of digital omnipresence. The year 2025 has seemed to bring a particular deluge of dissatisfaction amongst music enthusiasts with the current mainstream model of consumption and listening — like cited above, the publication of Pelly’s book and the third annual Analog Fair in Cincinnati — and now the leading online used record marketplace, Discogs, has rung the alarm.
Discogs’ concept of a specific day set aside for physical record listening calls to mind the establishment of Record Store Day, which was founded in 2008. The event’s beginnings coincided with the approximate onset of the vinyl revival, reflecting the independent vinyl community’s push to reclaim relevance and maintain survival during mainstream music’s transition from physical to digital consumption. It is clear that we are in the midst of another strenuous transition, one that forces the independent music community to think about what it values and what it has to offer that the mainstream music industry lacks. As record store chains began shuttering in the 2000s, independent record stores asserted their place as the remaining purveyors of physical recorded sound. What will a day devoted to offline listening say?
While it is a blast to crate dig on Record Store Day, especially for rare and hard-to-find items, and shops often seem to use the day as an opportunity to stock their store with the absolute cream of the crop, RSD always makes me think how the lifestyle of a record collector does not simply occur one day a year, but rather is a regular habit that reinforces their admiration for physical recorded sound and appreciation of their local shop. Last year, Discogs themselves in association with the Vinyl Alliance, gathered data about the record collecting habits of various age demographics, stating that monthly record shopping occurs in 76% of Generation Z collectors, and in 84% of Millennial and Generation X. This large percentage of record collectors who engage with the hobby on a consistent basis suggests a general awareness of the importance to instituting collecting practices into their everyday lives. Just as RSD simply acts as a symbol for something that should be regular practice, the same holds true for the act of listening to the very records one collects.
Of course, easier said than done. I am too often guilty of neglecting my records, especially in the hectic, nonstop nature of daily life. Listening to physical records feels like a significant event these days because it does force you to sit down and direct your attention to music that cannot move with you more than maybe several feet in each direction. I frequently listen to music while commuting or working, so sitting down with a record on the turntable is like an act of care not just for my collection, but for myself. While setting aside one day just to engage with my record collection certainly seems like the antidote to my problems, it also may only feel like a Band-Aid. I want to listen to my record collection every day, to slow down life enough to be less on my feet with AirPods in my ears and more on my couch with my records spinning.
One of the aspects of this Dis/Connect Day that I do appreciate is its insistence that turning your focus towards listening to your physical records is more than simply a change musically — it is reorientation of your focus away from digital demands entirely. The press release urges individuals to “unplug from digital distractions” and that “in a world of constant distraction, Dis/Connect asks music fans to choose connection over consumption.” Electing to designate time and attention towards listening to records requires an attitude shift towards digital technology throughout your life. It’s not necessarily saying that you have to eschew digital technology as a whole, although you can take that path if you like. It is more about acknowledging that digital technology relegates music as simply another task to run amidst the hundreds of others you do daily on your devices. When listening to music is as seamless as adding a calendar event or texting a friend, it can also easily disappear into the endless stream of these actions that permeate our lives. Taking a moment to perform actions whose sole purposes are to fill your home with music for your enjoyment helps to re-establish the unique role that music serves, one that is not simply utilitarian, but creative, artistic, moving, and imbued with meaning.
I don’t want to wait for Dis/Connect Day to reacquaint myself with my record collection. I don’t want that day to be the only day I do so. Dis/Connect Day serves as a compelling reminder of what the broader physical media community values in the streaming era, but I also believe curating a record collection and listening to it should be a regular practice, a muscle that is exercised and strengthened, in order to enact lasting differences for yourself and your local record community. I hope your phone will be stowed away and you’ll be submerged in your record collection on October 18th. But I also hope it’s because you’ve been doing that already for weeks, and you plan to continue for weeks and months after.
– Hannah Blanchette
September 22, 2025 | Blog