I grew up in Arizona, with the sound of my mother's old static box T.V turned on to her favorite playlist, blasting songs that I knew would be ingrained in my head for the years to come. From Fiona Apple to Fleetwood Mac, I feel incredibly grateful to say I grew up listening to some of the best music that a kid could listen to. What piqued my interest most was moving to Ocean Beach, San Diego, and seeing all the buskers on the sidewalk, playing their songs that would always end up getting stuck in my head. When I was 13, I ended up discovering an artist who was pretty small at the time named Cavetown, an indie artist I had found on Soundcloud, an older streaming service. Although I don't listen to him anymore, I resonated with his music very deeply, and some of my fondest memories come from going to concerts, that were usually in little bars in downtown LA, and making friends that I would end up carrying with me throughout my life. Before this, I didn't realize that the one thing in my life that had remained a constant variable would also lead me down different pathways to not only make friends but find myself in the process. I started collecting CDs when I was about 14 years old. The first shop I remember going to to begin my collection was called the Record Alley in the Palm Desert Mall. Although that shop closed down, it led me to enter every record store I saw, beginning a collection that would become something I keep very close to my heart, with my first CD being a One Direction album my mom got me for Christmas. I guess she knew!
Physical Media, meaning CDs and Vinyl, is something I find to play an incredibly important role in preserving music and how it is translated throughout history. Oftentimes physical media such as vinyl and CDs go overlooked as larger-scale streaming platforms such as Soundcloud and Spotify gain popularity, but with these platforms, we lose the personal connection that physical music can provide. With these streaming platforms, long goes the days of going to record stores and searching for that one album you love more than all the others. It also makes it harder for older music to be carried through generations, as physical media was one of the only ways music could be shared back in the day and exists on a much larger scale physically. Lots of music from older generations was meant solely to be played on a record player, and playing it off your phone can weaken the experience it was meant to give you more than you realize. Music is an art form, meant to be listened to and enjoyed in certain media. That's not to say that streaming music on your phone is wrong in any way, although in my opinion it seriously changes the way it was meant to be listened to. When you are able to listen to music on a physical scale, it becomes an experience. Whether you are loading a CD into a radio or dropping a needle on a record, there is a ritual involved. With modern streaming platforms and songs made for no reason other than to chart, that art and ritualistic aspect become lost in reused beats with no soul.
One of the main artists I remember listening to growing up was Tom Petty. My mom was obsessed with him from when she was young, and she was very adamant about raising me on good music. I think she accomplished just that. Tom Petty, born in 1950, originally began performing in a local band in Gainesville Florida when he was in high school. When he was just 10 years old, he was introduced to Elvis Presley by his dad. It would be shortly after this that he would pick up playing guitar and end up playing for a local band called The Epics. Petty proved to be one of the first people to buck against the music industry by constantly pushing against his contracts and cutting profits from his music to allow lower prices for his fans. Originally, his father wanted him to be an artist, as his original medium was drawing. Music proved to be a better fit for him after meeting Elvis Presley and receiving a $28 Spanish guitar from his father for Christmas. Tom Petty would prove to be a pioneer in the music industry by fighting for his masters and filing for bankruptcy to escape his record label. He believed he was being taken advantage of, and refused to be “treated like a piece of meat” (Taysom, 1). I believe his authenticity is reflected in his music, and this authenticity is incredibly important in making and securing connections with your audience that last a lifetime.
The record store that started it all for me was called The Record Alley in the Westfield mall in Palm Desert. It was on the bottom floor by the macys, you couldnt miss it because there was always a band playing loud enough to shake the top floor. When it opened in 1985, it quickly became a regualart spot and staple for the community to buy, share, and listen to music. “Record Alley was always my ‘gotta get out of the house and do something’ place to visit,” said Matt Olson, Record Alley employee and Palm Desert resident (King, 1) . Though it left me devastated when it eventually closed shop in 2020, it was shortly after its closing i began flying back and forth to Idaho. On one snowy day after a snow storm that left my southern californian self speechless, my cousin took me to what he called a “little record shop in downtown Boise”. Anything that involved music piqued my interest but this shop was unlike anything i had seen. The first thing you were greeted with eccentric posters advertising local bands and their upcoming shows. A community bulletin i hadn’t seen anything like. I had spent hours in there as it had just about every genre you could dream of, but something that stood out to me most was the people in that shop clearly weren't afraid to be who they truly wanted to be. Something I couldn't help but envy. It was clear music had brought them together and that store was a collection of music that had been curated by the music scene of Boise, Idaho. Infact, it was students who worked at The Record Exchange, who created an archive in the Alberston Library in Boise to preserve older music to ensure its existence for generations to come. “I think its really important to preserve that history.” Says Record Exchange employee and Boise State student, Cora Lee Oxley (Binkley, 1).
I believe Tom Petty helped revolutionize and solidify musics form as not only an art but a necessity to the community. Physical media and music itself are constantly being monopolized and turned from an art form into a monetized cash-cow without any meaning or soul. Without strong hard-headed people like him in this industry, places like The Record Alley and The Record Exchange most likely would fall under the water and we would lose a critical part of musics ability to bring together communities that otherwise would miss each other completely. Music creates a bond between everyone who listens to it and i think that is not only beautiful, but impossible without the people creating the art and holding it to the degree in which it deserves. With this community and the against-the-machine aritsts that hold it together, music is on the perfect track to be treated as the art form it truly is.
Works Cited
Taysom, Joe. “How Tom Petty’s lawsuit with his record deal changed the music industry forever” Farout Magazine, 2 Feb. 2021,
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/tom-petty-lawsuit-changed-music-industry/Links to an external site.,
Binkley, Jude. “The Record Exchange, Boise State Creating Archive of Idaho Music History” KTVB 7, 28 Jan. 2024,
King, Matt. “A space for music no more: After More Than Four Decades, Record Alley is Closing its Doors For Good.” Coachella Valley Independent, 7 Jan. 2021,
Comments