I've always appreciated the physicality of buying music. Going to a record store to buy an album, taking it home and removing the cellophane, then carefully placing the needle before the grooves. ... Yes, I am talking about vinyl - a medium that I'm ironically watching being carried under the arm of a teenager walking down Tacoma's Sixth Avenue as I type. Vinyl forced listeners to sit down and really listen to an album, start to finish, and in the order that the artist intended for the music to be heard.

Then came 8-tracks, cassettes and CDs - each more convenient than its predecessor.

The impact of the digital age on music cannot be denied. We can now carry our entire music collection on our iPods, download digital copies of albums instead of physical ones, and anyone with an acoustic guitar and a computer can post their original music on the Internet.

I am not mourning the death of tradition, but celebrating the ways in which we can utilize today's technology. Though we no longer keep our music collections in milk crates at the foot of our beds - well stubbornly enough, I still do - the romanticism and infatuation surrounding music has not departed.

Most bands flocked Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites as a means of sharing music, gaining a following and alerting fans of upcoming shows. It wasn't long before websites aimed directly at artists emerged, such as SoundCloud. Open a SoundCloud account and the world can hear original music. This is a beautiful concept. I can log into my SoundCloud and listen to my favorite Tacoma bands before they release an EP.

Last Saturday I met up with a young gentleman named Alex Orozco, who is originally from Tacoma but now lives up north in Medina. A mutual friend told me Orozco was starting "some local music thing." Despite the indistinctness of the heads up, I was intrigued nonetheless. After contacting Orozco and hearing his "music thing" idea, I realized this was something my readers shan't be deprived of.

On the evening of Saturday, Dec. 1 Orozco launched a "music platform" called EPdemics. What is a music platform?

"The idea is to bring the local music scene together from all around the world. The platform is hosting undiscovered talent, aka ‘local artists/bands/etc.', as well as a large community of users of the site," explains Orozco.

EPdemics is a website where local bands can create a profile, share their music and receive feedback from users of the site. As bands improve and become more popular, this will lend them more influence over the site and the community of users. This is different from other music social networks in that it leaves the ultimate power in the hands of the artists and fans. This is 100 percent in the spirit of the phrase that has caught on among EPdemics developers, "Let the audio speak for itself."

"I want a band that has talent to come into our site fired up about what they are doing," continues Orozco.

If you're an up and coming artist, I strongly encourage you to sign up with EPdemics. You may just be getting in on the ground floor of the next big thing in the cyber age of music. Signing up is easy, free and is but one more way you can spread your music to new listeners.

Visit http://www.epdemics.com/ and check it out. If you'd like any further information about EPdemics, you may contact Alex Orozco at alex.orozco@therubyhouse.com.

LINK: EPdemics Facebook

LINK: The Rockford Files all-ages column