Ricardo Nava is the man behind the popular YouTube channel @MusicOnRepeat, which has racked up over a million views. A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, the 21-year-old can be seen on the platform nearly every week reviewing new albums on CD and vinyl. He’s a big fan of hip-hop and R&B and has been collecting CDs for the last five years. In this installment of 360°Sound‘s long-running CD Junkies series, Nava discusses his favorite albums, the advantages of the CD format, and his thoughts on what the future holds.
360°Sound: How long have you been collecting CDs? Do you remember the first CD you ever bought?
Ricardo Nava: I started collecting CDs in 2018, which was a memorable year for me. A lot of my favorite albums came out that year. The first CD I ever bought was Ye by Kanye West. I saw the CD at my local FYE at that time for like $10 and instantly picked it up without hesitation. I didn’t even own a CD player at that time. That CD also started my YouTube channel.
What do you love about the CD format?
The sound quality of a CD compared to streaming is so much better, especially when you have the equipment for it. Not only that but the packaging and the things that come with it make it worth it. There’s something special about owning and having an album in your hands compared to just hitting play on your phone. I also like that CDs are affordable and take up less storage compared to vinyl.
Tell us about your YouTube channel. You do a lot of unboxing and reaction videos for new music releases. Has that been fun?
My YouTube channel @MusicOnRepeat. has been quite a success for me. I started with CD unboxings and later moved on to vinyl unboxings and album reviews. The reason why I even made a YouTube channel in the first place is because I saw that there weren’t that many unboxings of modern CDs – at least in the type of genre that I like. So, I made videos to see if there was an audience. Sure enough, there was.
It’s been fun making videos, especially when I like doing them. I’ve gotten comments and messages from people thanking me for making videos. Some even tell me that I inspired them to start a collection, whether it be vinyl or CD. These types of comments and messages motivate me to keep making content.
What are some of your favorite genres? Who are some of your favorite artists?
I’m mostly into hip-hop and R&B. If you check out my channel, you’ll get a feel of what I like. I also grew up listening to corridos and Latin music. As for favorite artists, there are a lot I like, but SAINt JHN has to be my favorite artist. I also like Kanye, 070 Shake, Daniel Caesar, Frank Ocean, Jaden, Kid Cudi, Dominic Fike, 6lack, Baby Keem and Saba.
I get inspired by all these artists. They take their art seriously and put out amazing projects. There are a bunch of artists that I would for sure buy their album on CD. If I really like an artist, I get their album on CD, vinyl, or both.
Where do you typically buy CDs?
I used to buy a good chunk of CDs from my local FYE until they closed. Now, most of my CD purchases come from Amazon just because they have a variety of CDs and it’s convenient for me. There really isn’t any in-person retailer that carries a lot of CDs, or at least not what I’m looking for. Buying online is really the only option for me when it comes to CDs. I also have purchased from eBay and artist websites.
Which CDs have been getting lots of spins lately? What do you love about those discs?
As of today, I really only have been spinning Never Enough by Daniel Caesar. It’s just an easy and smooth listen from start to finish. I also have been playing more of my newer CDs like Luv 4 Rent by Smino, Ivory by Omar Apollo, Few Good Things by Saba, and You Can’t Kill Me by 070 Shake. All these albums came out last year, and they’ve been on repeat since.
How do you feel about the future of the CD? Do you think we will see a revival similar to what has happened with vinyl?
I think CDs have somewhat of a future. Artists are still putting their albums out on CD, and fans do buy them. So, there is still a market for CDs. I just think that in order for CDs to get a revival, there has to be better equipment for it. I don’t think CDs would have a big revival like vinyl has, but who knows? Either way, I’m still going to keep buying CDs and supporting artists’ music.
Check out Ricardo’s YouTube channel @MusicOnRepeat.
