A number of years ago the music industry finally embraced the technology of downloading songs. Previously downloading had mostly been done illegally, but a new revolution was in the works. One of its battle cries was this statement: Music was a product, now it is a service.
The idea was to gradually eliminate the compact disc and focus on downloads. Service providers like Amazon, itunes, Pandora, and the now-legit Napster would provide music downloads which enabled users to store them in their portable devices to enjoy wherever they went.
Let's go back even further. Sony developed the first compact disc, or CD, in 1976, but it wasn't until the mid 1980's that they began to be used as a popular format for storing and distributing music. Compact discs were touted by the music industry as being superior in every way to the vinyl record. CDs sounded clearer, were easily accessed, and would theoretically last forever. Most importantly to the music labels, the compact disc was much cheaper to manufacture than vinyl records. Yet the price for CDs nearly doubled the price of records.
We were duped. Making a digital file of a piece of music requires it to be compressed. The clarity of the sound suffers, so to make up for that music is commonly recorded louder for CDs. The truth is, the average vinyl record sounds clearer and much more distinct than on a compact disc.
I'm not trying to come off as superior here. I bought the whole thing hook, line, and sinker, just like almost everyone else. We all fell in love with the shiny new technology.
Things were going quite well for the music industry. Punk Rock had been sterilized and sanitized for the masses. People were buying CDs all the time. Myself most definitely included. Then something came along and turned things on its head.
Another shiny new technology surfaced and became very popular. The Internet caught on like wildfire and soon enough, mainly through a company called Napster, music lovers were sharing their files over the world wide web. While the music label executives began shitting themselves.
It was funny to see those pricks getting their comeuppance, but illegal downloading isn't the right answer either. I did it some when Napster was new, but I quickly began feeling dirty about the whole thing. Just because we could get away with getting music at no cost doesn't make it right. How are my favorite recording artists able to continue to make albums if they aren't being paid for their work? I only wish more people shared my view on it.
A few years ago I began to rekindle my love of vinyl records. To actually have a big cover in my hands and enjoy the artwork and photography. The joy of taking the record out of its sleeve and place it on the turntable. And for those who like to have enhanced enjoyment of music, a gatefold record jacket is a perfect place to clean four twenty.
I've been seriously collecting vinyl for the past few years, and I have over three hundred in my collection at present. My tastes are wildly diverse. I like punk, new wave, funk, jazz, reggae, Hawaiian, polka, surf, swing, ragtime. Pretty much anything goes, but I'm not exactly mad about the music of my generation: Dreary blues-based classic rock. That shit bored the pants off of me.
Others around my age have been re-experiencing the joys of vinyl. It really does sound better than digital recordings. But aging geezers like myself do not make the trends in the music industry. Nor do the executives of the labels. Nor do the artists. The ones who move and shake are the same who've been doing it all along, and will always continue to do so: The kids.
I knew that vinyl was on the upswing. Most of my favorite artists are releasing their works, past and present, in the LP record form. I'm friends with the guy at a local record store, and he says that in the last year vinyl sales have gone up around 25%. And it's becoming harder to find decent records at the thrift shops all the time.
But it was last past weekend, while I was in Raleigh, NC, where the resurgence of the vinyl record was most evident to me. I went to the local record store, Schoolkids, which is right by the University. I know that the owner has been struggling to stay afloat for the past decade or so. But on Saturday evening the store was crawling with kids. Students mostly, I'm sure. They were pouring over the new record section. I could hardly fight my way in to get a look at them myself.
The kids are enjoying the greater audio clarity of vinyl records. They like actually owning a record, and looking at the pictures, liner notes (that you can actually read), and lyrics. Collecting records has become cool again.
This is good news for Schoolkids Records, and for other great stores, like American Oldies Records, in Newport News, Virginia.
Some people are happy to give all of their business to Amazon or itunes. Or to listen for free at Spotify, which I signed up for and promptly deleted from my computer mere days after getting it. Since my conversion back to vinyl, digital recordings sound weak to me.
A lot of times you can get the best of both worlds with one pop. In quite a few cases I've bought the vinyl release, and included with the record is a card with a download code where the buyer can download MP3s of the same release for free.
But isn't it much easier for a struggling independent artist to get a CD release than the far more costly process of making a vinyl record? Of course it is, but with today's technologies, the rules for creating, manufacturing, and distributing music are rapidly changing. Artists are getting their fans to actually invest in the creation of a project with global funding platforms like Indie a Go Go and Kickstarter. Interested parties can invest at various levels, with different perks for the amount given.
I find it all to be terribly exciting. It's good for the economy to get more workers involved in the distribution of music, books, movies. Sure, it's not as convenient for the typically lazy American, but I think that the end results are worthwhile to those that genuinely care about books, music, movies.
So please, join the vinyl revolution and let's turn music back into a product. Dust off that old turntable and those records you've got stored. Just make sure you get a new needle. Or if you're younger, join the cool kids and invest in a decent system. Take my advice and don't get any of that cheap crap out there. I paid a hundred dollars for my Sony turntable, and it plugs right into a USB port, where you can play it through your existing computer system. Or you can get an amplifier and tabletop speakers and kick it old school.
The idea was to gradually eliminate the compact disc and focus on downloads. Service providers like Amazon, itunes, Pandora, and the now-legit Napster would provide music downloads which enabled users to store them in their portable devices to enjoy wherever they went.
Let's go back even further. Sony developed the first compact disc, or CD, in 1976, but it wasn't until the mid 1980's that they began to be used as a popular format for storing and distributing music. Compact discs were touted by the music industry as being superior in every way to the vinyl record. CDs sounded clearer, were easily accessed, and would theoretically last forever. Most importantly to the music labels, the compact disc was much cheaper to manufacture than vinyl records. Yet the price for CDs nearly doubled the price of records.
We were duped. Making a digital file of a piece of music requires it to be compressed. The clarity of the sound suffers, so to make up for that music is commonly recorded louder for CDs. The truth is, the average vinyl record sounds clearer and much more distinct than on a compact disc.
I'm not trying to come off as superior here. I bought the whole thing hook, line, and sinker, just like almost everyone else. We all fell in love with the shiny new technology.
Things were going quite well for the music industry. Punk Rock had been sterilized and sanitized for the masses. People were buying CDs all the time. Myself most definitely included. Then something came along and turned things on its head.
Another shiny new technology surfaced and became very popular. The Internet caught on like wildfire and soon enough, mainly through a company called Napster, music lovers were sharing their files over the world wide web. While the music label executives began shitting themselves.
It was funny to see those pricks getting their comeuppance, but illegal downloading isn't the right answer either. I did it some when Napster was new, but I quickly began feeling dirty about the whole thing. Just because we could get away with getting music at no cost doesn't make it right. How are my favorite recording artists able to continue to make albums if they aren't being paid for their work? I only wish more people shared my view on it.
A few years ago I began to rekindle my love of vinyl records. To actually have a big cover in my hands and enjoy the artwork and photography. The joy of taking the record out of its sleeve and place it on the turntable. And for those who like to have enhanced enjoyment of music, a gatefold record jacket is a perfect place to clean four twenty.
I've been seriously collecting vinyl for the past few years, and I have over three hundred in my collection at present. My tastes are wildly diverse. I like punk, new wave, funk, jazz, reggae, Hawaiian, polka, surf, swing, ragtime. Pretty much anything goes, but I'm not exactly mad about the music of my generation: Dreary blues-based classic rock. That shit bored the pants off of me.
Others around my age have been re-experiencing the joys of vinyl. It really does sound better than digital recordings. But aging geezers like myself do not make the trends in the music industry. Nor do the executives of the labels. Nor do the artists. The ones who move and shake are the same who've been doing it all along, and will always continue to do so: The kids.
I knew that vinyl was on the upswing. Most of my favorite artists are releasing their works, past and present, in the LP record form. I'm friends with the guy at a local record store, and he says that in the last year vinyl sales have gone up around 25%. And it's becoming harder to find decent records at the thrift shops all the time.
But it was last past weekend, while I was in Raleigh, NC, where the resurgence of the vinyl record was most evident to me. I went to the local record store, Schoolkids, which is right by the University. I know that the owner has been struggling to stay afloat for the past decade or so. But on Saturday evening the store was crawling with kids. Students mostly, I'm sure. They were pouring over the new record section. I could hardly fight my way in to get a look at them myself.
The kids are enjoying the greater audio clarity of vinyl records. They like actually owning a record, and looking at the pictures, liner notes (that you can actually read), and lyrics. Collecting records has become cool again.
This is good news for Schoolkids Records, and for other great stores, like American Oldies Records, in Newport News, Virginia.
Some people are happy to give all of their business to Amazon or itunes. Or to listen for free at Spotify, which I signed up for and promptly deleted from my computer mere days after getting it. Since my conversion back to vinyl, digital recordings sound weak to me.
A lot of times you can get the best of both worlds with one pop. In quite a few cases I've bought the vinyl release, and included with the record is a card with a download code where the buyer can download MP3s of the same release for free.
But isn't it much easier for a struggling independent artist to get a CD release than the far more costly process of making a vinyl record? Of course it is, but with today's technologies, the rules for creating, manufacturing, and distributing music are rapidly changing. Artists are getting their fans to actually invest in the creation of a project with global funding platforms like Indie a Go Go and Kickstarter. Interested parties can invest at various levels, with different perks for the amount given.
I find it all to be terribly exciting. It's good for the economy to get more workers involved in the distribution of music, books, movies. Sure, it's not as convenient for the typically lazy American, but I think that the end results are worthwhile to those that genuinely care about books, music, movies.
So please, join the vinyl revolution and let's turn music back into a product. Dust off that old turntable and those records you've got stored. Just make sure you get a new needle. Or if you're younger, join the cool kids and invest in a decent system. Take my advice and don't get any of that cheap crap out there. I paid a hundred dollars for my Sony turntable, and it plugs right into a USB port, where you can play it through your existing computer system. Or you can get an amplifier and tabletop speakers and kick it old school.
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