The Vinyl Meltdown: Turning Down the LP Boom
I’ve long since abandoned my black and grey Sony Discman, its flimsy cover, broken volume knob and worn down seek buttons sitting decomposed in a trash pile somewhere on an ocean rig. A click of a button and the cover shot up, waiting for me to toss it its melodic victuals. I’d snap the CD in place, gently shut the cover and lean back, closing my eyes and taking in each measure of music, each phrase, calmly, tranquilly…
Until I failed to hold it perfectly flat, in which case it would throw a fit and make skipping noises that sounded like a croup-ridden child. All I had to do was yank its bulky, obtrusive figure from the depths of my suitcase, clamor through my backpack for my equally awkward CD case and sit still like a statue or risk listening to Hanson in half-second segments.
I can proudly say two things: I don’t miss that contraption at all and thank God for MP3 players.
I love convenience, and for that reason I doubt I’ll ever fully grasp the recent vinyl craze sweeping angst-ridden, hipster college students. I hated my Discman, so I’m surprised that listening devices decades older are making such a comeback.
According to an article in TIME Magazine, “Vinyl Gets Its Groove Back,” vinyl sales comprised roughly 0.2% of total album sales in 2007 – that’s almost 990,000 records and LPs. In Boston, at a Berklee School of Music panel discussion in March 2008, Newbury Comics CEO Mike Dreese told students his vinyl sales were up almost 100% in the last year.
Several artists are capitalizing on the recent vinyl surge. Bands like The Killers, Radiohead and The Mars Volta began to make their albums available on all three formats: digital download, compact disc, and vinyl.
I’m still stumped. A million records are sold and all of a sudden bands rush to release their albums in a third format to appease the “masses?” A million anything is a lot, but in the context of total album sales it seems like a paltry sum. I get that within the flagging record industry, bands are going to try to appeal to every niche possible, but with a new era of digital downloading looming on the horizon it feels like vinyl lovers’ special treatment will go to waste. Right now vinyl appears to be a trend that people are treating like a movement.
Berklee junior Gray Bashew, 20, is able to shed a little light on the subject for me. “I really like the records themselves,” Bashew says. “The cases they come in, the big graphics. I like being able to open it up and look at the pictures on the back.”
Bashew’s assertion seems to be in line with the TIME article’s assessment: “Vinyl’s different shapes (hearts, triangles) and eye-catching designs (bright colors, sparkles) are created to appeal to a young audience.”
Neat shapes and pretty colors? Seriously? Are people bought so easily? But there may be a bit more to vinyl’s allure than just its aesthetic quality.
“In terms of sound quality, it does have a softer sound,” Bashew says. “Plus, when you put a record on, I think you listen to it more than if you put a CD on. When I put on a vinyl and sit with my friends, we listen to it. We don’t really do that with CDs.”
Maybe I value my time too much. When I listen to music, it’s always accompanied by something else. I carry my iPod with me when I go running or when I go on errands. I can’t strap a turntable to my back and go run a 5K – that’s just not convenient.
I’m not saying people can’t own an iPod and a record player at the same time – I just have a problem with the largely superficial attraction people have for vinyl. Then again, I have a favorite shape and color, too: white and rectangular.
With the exception of DJs and hip-hop artists, hardly anyone seems to value vinyl for its breakthrough in the music industry as the first widely distributed recordable format. It’s not cool because it was innovative; it’s cool because it’s shaped differently.
Nostalgia is overrated. I’m perfectly content having my entire music library easily accessible with the click of a scroll wheel, and with a half-decent pair of headphones I can enjoy the sound quality my iPod delivers.
But you audiophiles have fun. I’ll enjoy my portability.
Comment? [1]
From: Dan on Oct 9, 09:51 AM
Commenting is closed for this article.
Nice article Defav! I actually read the original TIME article and enjoyed it. I have quite some vinyl but I “DJ” (just for myself) The fad will die out. btw, those audiophile are correct about the sound quality. But seriously if you don’t really sit down and listen to the music with some good speakers you’d never tell the difference. Nice site!