I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but I’m starting to see more and more positive articles about the return of vinyl records. NPR gave their spin on it last April. Wired Magazine waxed eloquent about its resurgence last October. Amazon.com has banded together all its vinyl product into one section of its online store. Bloggers are even turning their attention to it. Maybe all the press about vinyl is right; maybe it is making a comeback.
There are evidently a couple of interesting things helping people get back in the groove of buying record albums. One is a new type of turntable that is equipped with a USB cable, thus allowing you to easily convert the songs to mp3 format for portability — without any DRM hassles. Another is the even easier option given by some bands — buy the LP and you get a coupon that allows you to download the songs in mp3 format for free. Thus, you can have the easy portability of the music when you’re on the go, and the warmer sonic quality of the LP for home listening. Not a bad strategy.
I personally like LPs, both for nostalgic and auditory reasons. A well-crafted album is really something to experience. Growing up, I always loved to listen to a new album straight through from beginning to end (loudly, of course) while reading the liner notes, evaluating the artwork, and figuring out the lyrics (some albums even printed the lyrics out for you). I think they sound better, by and large, than digital music, too. Even with its imperfections, vinyl just sounds more — authentic.
Well, I’m not holding my breath, but I’ll be happy if vinyl grows in popularity and more album titles become available. That would be just… nah, I’m not going to say it; enough with the puns.
Actually, CJ, one of my current favorite artists, Marc Broussard, released his latest effort on both CD and vinyl.
Cj,
I got a turntable with a USB connection and am transforming my vinyl to my iPod. Not replacing the vinyl, but do want to enjoy all of my music in the car or on the go. Pretty cool technology. It also can adapt to digitize other media, so break out those 8 tracks……
Vinyl IS more authentic; the analog recording is simply a truer copy of the sound than the digital is. Not that it matters for modern pop music, but I notice an enormous difference when listening to jazz. A lot of the “dirtiness” and the subtleties of the sound are lost in digital format.
Not that Eyebrows is going vinyl (CDs were already dominant when I was old enough to buy music, so I’ve never owned any vinyl of my own, and the monetary investment would be staggering), but Eyebrows always appreciates the chance to listen to someone ELSE’S vinyl.
My next door neighbor actually just got a USB turntable. She collects the BeeGees and is just tickled pink with her new toy.
A virgin vinyl LP run past the Nitty Gritty machine on a SOTA turntable with a moving coil cart thru all tube amps into Magnapan speakers?
Yeah, screw digital.
And to think all my vinyl records are still good and my old hi fi set that still works perfectly is still good. Who wodda thunk it? I even have some 45s Like “The Eve of Destruction”.
Well I have an extensive collection of both Vinyl and CDs. Most of the albums I enjoy most have been repurchased on CD. I own a quite expensive turntable by today’s standards, but only play it for fun or to pull out an album I don’t have any other copy of.
Do I prefer the sound of an album over a CD? Not necessarily. I appreciate the fuller and richer sound, but I also appreciate some of better reissued CD’s which bring out nuances of the music and studio that otherwise went un-noticed.
There is nothing like the feeling of dropping the needle down and scouring the album notes while the music plays. I still visit used record stores when I get a chance and pick up treasures at garage sales and flea markets, and I’ve still got songs in my head that I yearn to skip or pop at a precise moment, but when it comes to a new release, I’m buying the CD. I have no desire to digitize an album so I can burn a copy onto a CD that I can play in my car.
I still remember getting a record and listening to it sitting on the shag carpeting at my parents’ house. I would pour over the liner notes and look at the cover art as the music played. Records just have more soul. I love the scratches, the skips and bumps… why? Because when you don’t get one, it means that much more. CDs and DVDs are just too easy.
Let’s face it, if you knew how to cue up a record really well, you were cool. Now, you push a button. That takes no effort at all.
I hope records do come back but I don’t think so. No knows what it is like to buy an album like 2112 or Operation Mindcrime with the idea that it was a concept album. Remember the old Led Zep records. classics. Name one classic album now? Other than the new Springsteen, forget it.
I just heard about this on the radio over Christmas. The radio host was talking about how CDs need to become more like LPs in the sense that they need to be collectible. You would buy the CD at the store because you want the cover and the case. It would contain unique artwork and be worth something instead of just a piece of paper and plastic. I am all for it. Otherwise, everyone will be downloading their music (Hmm, I think that has already happened.)
Coming from a record collecting background, when I began purchasing CD’s I would carefully cut and fold flat the ‘longbox’ that they came in. If you’ll recall, they were packaged in the longboxes, as they were called, so they could fit in the album racks at the stores.
I know it’s kinda anal, but I’ve saved a few hundred of the old cd longboxes. Some of them are actually quite interesting, as the record companies would put info about the artist or album on the back as if they knew they knew they were competing with the LP.
Jen, re your comment about making CDs ‘special’: Just a couple months ago I bought a CD because the artist made an initial run of special editions. They had unique packaging and were autographed. That got me to spend $13 that I otherwise wouldn’t have.