Written By: Kaytee Weidenfeld
Despite being knee deep in the new digital age of music streaming and digital downloads, music lovers everywhere are giving vinyl records another spin.
According to Diffuser, vinyl sales increased by 52 percent from 2013 to 2014 in the United States.
Why the sudden comeback of a once dead format?
Some believe music should be about quality over quantity.
DJ Ravis Mcmorris, 40, owner of The Record Crate, from Asheville, says what’s old is new again. He believes vinyl is the best medium for music.
“Vinyl is the perfect medium for sound,” he says. “No other sound sounds like a record, it has warmth and depth.”
Mcmorris has been collecting vinyl since 1983 and has acquired about 11,000 records.
Diffuser also reports the reemergence of vinyl isn’t due to cost and convenience, rather because of nostalgia, ownership, interaction and sound.
Samia Phipps, 20, a hostess at Mayfel’s from Burnsville, says she doesn’t have the best vision, therefore, the physical act of pulling a record out of its sleeve and putting a needle to a groove is much more tangible than clicking a button.
Phipps also appreciates vinyl for its laborious nature.
“There’s a guy who has to sit there and listen to a full album to see if it plays evenly,” she said. “I appreciate how it gives people real jobs.”
According to The Vinyl Factory Group website, there are only 40 vinyl record manufacturers in the world, making it difficult to keep up with supply and demand.
The New York Times reports vinyl production is an expensive, tedious process to produce. Most plants are working with decades-old machinery, costing an arm and a leg to fix, and causing a worldwide vinyl production crisis.
Vinyl orders can take up to six months to fill, according to The New York Times.
However, there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
Last fall Plastics News announced the release of Newbilt Machinery GmbH & Co. KG, the first vinyl record press to hit the market in about 30 years. Newbilt combined the design of the original vinyl press with modern modifications such as an electronic control system and a hydraulic power supply.
According to Plastics News, eight of the first new vinyl presses will be installed at Third Man Records, located in Detroit. Third Man’s goal is to give back to the community by creating more jobs.
Vinyl may be putting a different spin on things, however, 160 million CDs and 118 million digital albums were sold in 2013, News Channel 5 reported.
Ryan Lingenfelter, 21, a UNC Asheville Spanish major from Charlotte, prefers modern music formats.
He says he likes the easy access of streaming and exploring with the touch of a button.
Lingenfelter says his grandparents owned a record player and collected vinyl, but it wasn’t something passed down.
Anthony Colonello, 22, from Carthage, had a different experience growing up. He listened to his mother’s record collection, which mostly contained classic rock.
“I think people are surrounded by digital music,” he says. “So when you have a really good quality comeback, people recognize it among all of the electronic noise.”
According to Unbound, Generation Y is dominating the consumption of old and new record sales.
Colonello believes record players to be unmatched.
“I think it’s really the vinyl itself,” he says. “I think it preserves the sound so well, versus a CD or a file. The sound is really there, it’s on the vinyl.”
His favorite vinyl is from his mother’s collection.
“I really like “Rumours” from Fleetwood Mac,” he says. “It’s always been there in my life. I know the songs. When it comes to the end of a song, I know which one is coming up next. I’m really familiar with “Rumours”.
Ravis Mcmorris says his collection was also passed down through family.
The art of record collecting is a tradition he’s already passed down to his 5-year-old daughter, Ava, who has her very own variety of vinyl ‑ from Strawberry Shortcake and Frozen to Hansel & Gretel and the Cabbage Patch Kids.
“There’s a video of us working in the lab one day,” Mcmorris says and laughs. “And she dropped a record better than most DJs I know.”
“There’s a video of us working in the lab one day,” Mcmorris says and laughs. “And she dropped a record better than most DJs I know.”
0 comments