Vinyl Records Enjoy Revival with the Help of New Technology
ARLINGTON, Va., April 17, 2008 (VNS) – Vinyl phonograph records have spent a couple of decades with the volume turned way down—so low that today’s middle schoolers have barely heard of them. But today, LPs are enjoying a revival, thanks partly to what some call their superior sound and partly to new turntables that plug into a computer’s USB port and turn vinyl records into MP3s or other audio files.
More and more, today’s music fans can buy vinyl LPs for high-quality home listening and MP3s for portable listening. Many new vinyl records come with coupons that allow the purchaser to download the MP3 version free. Some industry observers—such as Eliot Van Buskirk, writing in Wired last year—say this vinyl-digital combination could leave CDs out in the cold.
After all but disappearing, demand for vinyl records is up. Vintage LPs, which have long been stocked in secondhand stores, are becoming more popular; last fall, Amazon opened a vinyl-only web site. Record labels are re-releasing vinyl LPs, and indie groups and other recording artists are launching new albums on vinyl.
On the production side, Chris Ashworth, president of Nashville-based United Record Pressing, LLC, the largest record manufacturer in the country, said that, even between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, he has seen a substantial increase in demand, with more customers interested in larger record runs. On the retail front, Matthew Wishnow, president of New York-based Insound.com, reported that over the last six months, vinyl has accounted for up to 40 percent of sales, as CD sales have slumped. When he began Insound in 1999, vinyl represented less than 10 percent of his business.
Wishnow suggested that the growth of MP-3 portable music “created a space for vinyl. Vinyl is a more physical representation of the music,” he said. “It’s a way to have the presence of the band in the home.” Also, he said, there is a sense that while many people listen to digital music, having the LP distinguishes the avid music fan. Insound is selling hobbyist turntables, priced between $100 and $150, “so quickly, we can’t keep them in stock,” Wishnow said. These are plug and play (no receivers or speakers needed), with USB ports.
Audiophiles have long maintained that vinyl’s analog sound is warmer and richer than the digital sound of CDs and DVDs. The reason, they say, is that records work solely with natural sound, which, by definition is analog (a continuous wave). A vinyl record has a groove carved in it that mirrors the wave form of the original sound; no information is lost. Thus the sounds from a vinyl recording can be much more accurate than the discrete data packages of digital recordings. (Admittedly, this is the topic of a running debate among cognoscenti.)
In addition, record lovers point out that there is more to the LP experience than just the sound; there are the physical steps, like a ritual, involved in playing the record. Ashworth said there is a “sense of thrill” when you first remove the record from the sleeve, knowing that “no one else has played that unit. You are the custodian of that record.” Also, part of the experience is the packaging, including commentary contained on the album covers and the covers themselves, which have become an art form in their own right.
For more information on vinyl products, please see www.vinylinfo.org.