A Gen Z collector on retro tech making a come back and what that says about us

Kai Wen (0:04)

Wired earphones, film cams and Walkmans.

Sue-Ann Tan (0:06)

Is retro tech back, or is it just another performative trend?

Kai Wen (0:09)

In this episode, we dive into the joy of going analog and how it can save us from being slaves to their algorithm. Hi, my name is Kai Wen.

Sue-Ann Tan (0:17)

And I'm Sue-Ann.

Kai Wen (0:17)

And you're listening to Headstart On Record. Join us as we figure a doubting out so you don't have to do it alone. Today we have with us Cody Tong. Welcome to the podcast, Cody.

He's only 25 years old, but he runs an online CD business called RadioCore. So he's like a bossman at 25 years old, just a bossman already.

Sue-Ann Tan (0:35)

Amazing.

Kai Wen (0:36)

And it's very interesting because, I mean, CDs are not an item of your era, right? Okay, so just to be clear, Cody here is a Gen Z, right?

Sue-Ann Tan (0:45)

Yes, I am.

Kai Wen (0:47)

Sue-Ann and I, we will not review our age, but we are the younger millennials.

Sue-Ann Tan (0:50)

Millennials, we will call ourselves millennials.

Kai Wen (0:52)

Younger millennials.

That's okay. So CD was my thing last time because we didn't have back then before the iPods and the MP3 and stuff, right? So you, I mean, you didn't grow up with CDs, yes? Because when you were growing up, it's already MP3, it was already streaming. So how on earth do you get into that whole obsession with CDs?

Sue-Ann Tan (1:13)

Okay, yeah, I did not grow up with CDs.

Cody Tong (1:15)

I grew up with MP3 and streaming.

I started collecting records about 3 years ago, 3 years ago and then I have like a friend that asked me to start collecting CDs, and I find it to be the cheaper alternative to records. And you know, I like to own my, the albums I like are on a physical format, so I can listen to them anytime. And the sound quality I feel is better than streaming. I think it's quite common for us to try something new, since I didn't experience it.

Kai Wen (1:48)

Do you collect CDs?

Sue-Ann Tan (1:49)

I don't collect CDs. Actually, to be honest, I used to have some CDs, because as you said, we grew up in the time that we actually listen to CDs, right? It's like the main mode of like engaging with music. So I did have a CD collection, and then I, I'm so sorry Cody, I threw them all away, because I realized, oh, the laptop doesn't play CDs anymore. I don't have a CD player. How dare you?

He is devastated at this point. Give me a...

Cody Tong (2:14)

That's really common. That's what most people tell me. And that's fine, like, people move on.

Sue-Ann Tan (2:20)

Yeah, so I went the opposite direction from Cody, like, still...

Kai Wen (2:25)

Fully digital and thrilling.

Sue-Ann Tan (2:26)

Fully digital, I just was like, okay, you know what, Spotify has it, YouTube has it, I'm fine with it.

Kai Wen (2:31)

Interesting, interesting, yeah. So Cody, maybe you can just give us like an insight, since you have a business and you interact with all the people who collect CDs and vinyls. Why are they still so popular? Because like what Sue-Ann said, we are all switching to streaming. You know, why is it still so popular in this day and age?

Cody Tong (2:45)

I feel it's really popular because most people like to own what they like on the physical format. You get to own it because sometimes Spotify can just take down a certain album, band, or bands be taking down their discography on Spotify anytime.

Kai Wen (3:01)

I mean, Spotify being the biggest streaming platform for music. Well, there are others like Apple Music as well.

Cody Tong (3:06)

Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. Normally, it's Spotify and Apple Music, but you can listen on the go basically.

They like to own it. And it's also another way for people to support artists because Spotify, they don't get enough income from Spotify.

Kai Wen (3:21)

Yeah, yeah.

Sue-Ann Tan (3:22)

Yeah, that's a very good point, right? Like wanting to have a physical collection because sometimes as things move more online or like in on the cloud as they say, right? Like even with, for example, Netflix and streaming, then people feel like, oh, if I really like something, I want to own it so I can just watch it anytime I want, rather than having that, you know, the risk of like, oh, if Netflix just chooses to take something down, then it's gone, right? Like people are always complaining, oh, how come they have taken this down? Or like the bad catalog of this has gone. Yeah.