CD
recordings are running their course.
MP3
and digital downloads have been chipping away at the CD market for well over 10
years. Brick and mortar chains have substantially
reduced their CD inventories (e.g., Barnes& Nobles, Sam Goodies), or disappeared
into the ether (Border Books, Tower records).
Sure,
the internet creates downward pressure on store-based inventories across any industry,
across product lines.
But
music is different. If you don’t want to wait for Amazon to deliver a CD,
simply download everything electronically.
Don’t want the entire CD? Pick
your favorite tracks for immediate download gratification. (The same thing, via
pdf, is happening with sheet music).
But
Vinyl is back in a big way – revitalized and spinning its music in an analog, audio-format
many consider more natural to the human ear. Vinyl’s 12-inch platter, its ridged, groovy
look and feel is irresistibly nostalgic. And in comparison to CDs – it’s
download-proof.
SIDEBAR: Forbes noted that sales
for vinyl recordings had increased 260% between 2009 and 2015.
Yes,
your new turntable may provide an out-of-the-box, USB port with entry-level,
SoundForge software to help digitize your tightly held collection of 1970s
Nonesuch classical records. But why
bother transferring to digital when you can actually start - from the ground-up
- pre-ordering pianist, Seong-Jin Cho’s
recently produced, Debussy vinyl recordings. And by-the-way, Nonesuch, in fact, is back to
producing vinyl recordings.
New
vinyl recordings, however, are typically more expensive than CDs. They have
tighter inventories and provide a relatively smaller product catalogue,
suggesting an imbalance between supply and demand.
Having
spent time recently at Portrait
Recording Studios as part of an original CD project (please feel
free to sample a couple of new songs via ReverbNation),
I was advised that creating CDs is decidedly more cost effective a process than
vinyl recording production; especially when
converting a final recorded master from
digital to analog. In fact, pressing a
single record may cost up to $200.00 per side.
What’s more, vinyl manufacturing resources are still thin, and may
require a lead-time of 4-6 months to deliver. But, if you’re a recording artist who can’t
see his or her name in lights, the much larger album fonts, actual readable
liner notes- and increased real estate for graphics - are tempting.
None
of this is germane to vinyl fanatics, however, who may be throwing away Beatles
CDs, deleting MP3s and buying the newly re-pressed, Sgt Peppers album. (In fact, Paul McCartney never much cared for
the digital remastering of the early Beatle recordings, especially since added
clarity and track separation sometimes shined an unfavorable light on the execution
of harmonies).
True Nostalgia
But
seriously, with increased market adoption, there’s a good chance the music-buying-youth
of the world will finally understand, recognize and come to enjoy the many
extraneous sounds derived from putting needle to record. Consider just a few of
vinyl’s theatrically employed clichés for videos and commercials.
·
The sudden yanking
of the tone-arm,
scratching the record. (Often used
as a metaphor for interrupting an inadequate product/service or a “shut-up” to a
boring announcer or untruthful politician).
·
The ending,
non-audio record space that just scratches along . (Used
dramatically to indicate someone’s not home, dead-drunk - or just dead).
·
The skipping record (Used to
indicate inattentiveness, or for comic effect, as when the skipping record
interrupts some couch romance).
It
doesn’t get any more nostalgic than that.
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