But something revolutionary is happening. Vinyl is cool again. Teenagers, who once scoffed at their parent's record collections, now wait in line to get the latest releases. In fact, according to the British Phonograph Industry (BPI), sales of 7" singles (45 rpm) surpassed the one million mark recently.
Now will this "revival" migrate across the Atlantic and push vinyl sales up in America? Will this be the next "British Invasion," albeit a different format? Time will tell, but if popular bands like the White Stripes, Primal Scream, Keane and indie favorites the Arctic Monkeys keep insisting their material is released via the seven-inch single, the teens who buy this music will keep responding and sales will continue to grow and so will the format.
Furthermore, it is not just the alternative bands or indie bands that release their material on vinyl. Mainstream artists like Neil Young, Madonna, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and many more have continued to utilize this format and there is excitement about Beck's new album. Beck is taking a unique approach to album cover design, selling a blank cover with a choice of four sticker sheets individually designed by artists Jasper Goodall and Han Lee. Fans can make their own album covers.
What is the allure, the attraction to the clumsy, hard to handle records? As recent research suggests, some people are drawn in by the physical nature of the record, the actual handling of the music, the interaction between the person, the record and the phonograph. There is almost a ritual to the handling and playing of a phonograph record.
Young people have heard that records sound better than their sterile cd counterparts and digital downloads, now they are experiencing the true sound that vinyl records bring to the music. There is a certain warmth, an ambience that a vinyl record brings to the music. And since the human ear hears in analog sound, and not digital format, vinyl naturally sounds better. So this is the secret that all the audiophiles knew all along! |
