It’s been a while since I’ve bothered browsing for records. I don’t have much of a system for listening to vinyl, just an old player with built in speakers that I got at an auction for a whopping 1$US. Given the state of my player, the quality factor just doesn’t jump out like it should. Still, there’s something to be said for the hiss of a needle on a spinning record. It’s a sound that’s getting more and more foreign to folks. Kids today, and all. But a good number of people still pick vinyl up, enough that you can usually find some decent new releases.
One neat little thing I noticed while poking through the vinyl at Plan 9 yesterday was that some companies are bundling the records with coupons so you can download MP3s of the songs for free. This might account for vinyl seeing a resurgence despite declining CD sales. As Eliot Van Buskirk wrote in “Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD’s Coffin”:
Pressing plants are ramping up production, but where is the demand coming from? Why do so many people still love vinyl, even though its bulky, analog nature is anathema to everything music is supposed to be these days? Records, the vinyl evangelists will tell you, provide more of a connection between fans and artists. And many of today’s music fans buy 180-gram vinyl LPs for home listening and MP3s for their portable devices.
“For many of us, and certainly for many of our artists, the vinyl is the true version of the release,” said Matador’s Patrick Amory. “The size and presence of the artwork, the division into sides, the better sound quality, above all the involvement and work the listener has to put in, all make it the format of choice for people who really care about music.”
Because these music fans also listen using portable players and computers, Matador and other labels include coupons in record packaging that can be used to download MP3 versions of the songs. Amory called the coupon program “hugely popular.”
A nice little bonus for folks who would like to listen to the songs on their MP3 player without having to buy the CD, buy them on iTunes, or just theft them. I’m not sure on the quality of the files, but one would hope they’d be good, especially since most folks who buy vinyl these days are audiophiles who might prefer their MP3s at the highest quality possible. Still, if vinyl’s growing popularity is going to lead to growing production, it just might be worth upgrading to a decent turntable.
