Why vinyl matters

[alphaGT]

It was a special time in music. I recall 1973 and 74, some of the best (rock) music ever written was being made. It was new! It was exciting, our parents hated it, and it has stood the test of time. And Vinyl was the medium of the day, these albums of music were written to fit the standard. And it sounded great! In fact, those same albums still play and sound great today. That’s why I think Vinyl will still be played 50 and 100 years from now, because of the sheer number of great vinyl still in the possession of people like myself. Yes I have CD’s, I’m not quite there on streaming but I see it’s appeal. But I’ve got a nice collection of great vinyl albums that I can think of no reason to replace. A pile of money invested that I don’t need to spend again. And I can replace most of it if I had to, but a lot of it never was remastered on new vinyl, or converted to CD, and I’m not sure it’s even out there on Streaming? A lot of great old music.

And I can’t get around the fact that at times I do enjoy playing Records, I enjoy handling it, cleaning it, adjusting the turntable and dropping the needle. I can’t say why, just an old habit I suppose. And my son in law is already drooling over the prospect of inheriting my collection and turntable. So hopefully the tradition will live on. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with digital in any fashion, and I also agree how great it is to have a double album on a CD, so I don’t have to flip it 4 times to hear it all. But somehow vinyl will always hold a place in my heart. And the billions of records sold in the past near 70 years now do exist, it could take a while for them all to get played up. Heck, there are still people who play their 78 collections, they still sell phono needles for them. No one still plays their old 8 track tapes, because they all rotted away!


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[Haselsh1]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41747615

[Haselsh1]

Yep, yep and yep. My first ever LP was 'Every Picture Tells A Story' at £3.50 and my second was 'Stranded' that was a christmas present from my sister. My last purchase was Gary Numan's latest. I see no reason whatsoever why the vinyl LP will not carry on regardless just as it has done in the face of digital from 1983 onwards. The army tank was developed in WW One, I don't see it becoming obsolete any time soon.

[Tim]

I do agree that the days of hanging around record stores was an important part of the 70s for me, Stamford Music Shop was like my youth club, I was in there all the time. Me I my mate even ended up dating some of the assistants!

I guess what the article is saying is that 'generally' a lot don't sit and listen like they used to, I certainly find that hi-fi in front rooms is much less common than it was in my youth, but is that anything to do with vinyl or a change of lifestyle?

Still interesting to see it's resurgence which is a good thing and the 70s was a great time, I loved buying records and going to gigs and festivals - I never imagined I'd still be doing it over 40 years later

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[struth]

Lots of other things to occupy folk now. My older grandson is into music but on his phone. xbox and tv are the kings I guess now.

[Haselsh1]

I remember the early eighties and being involved with a crowd of music and hi-fi loving people. We would often get together at one of the huge old Victorian terraces with my Logic DM101, another guys Crimson Electric monoblocks and KEF 105.4's. The sounds were inevitably Prog Rock from the seventies but the thing that struck me the most was that no one talked over the music. All of us were engrossed totally by the sound. Whisky was our thing back then as it still is now but those days were so special. Coming up date, music appears almost as an intrusion now to someone's desire to talk all of the time. What the hell happened to music...? I mean 'real' music...? Intricate notes, chords or phrases that meant so much.
Why is music now such a throw away surplus...? OK, so time moves on but history as they say is destined to repeat itself which indeed it seems to be doing. Going forward ( dont'cha just love that term) what next...?

[Tim]

I still find it incredible how the cost of buying music hasn't changed much. Going through my LPs from a recent move I found albums bought in the 70s that still had price labels of £7.99 on.

Google that price from 1970 and you can find this;

"UK Inflation Rate, 1970-2017 (£7.99)

According to the Office for National Statistics, the pound experienced an average inflation rate of 5.87% per year. Prices in 2017 are 1357.4% higher than prices in 1970.

In other words, £7.99 in the year 1970 is equivalent to £116.45 in 2017, a difference of £108.46 over 47 years."

I've thought music is too cheap for years now, but I guess it has to be with so many ways to enjoy it without actually paying for it.

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[walpurgis]

Why is music now such a throw away surplus...?

Music is mostly just a mass commodity for kids these days. You certainly don't see much instrument playing. If it doesn't sell to thirteen year olds in vast quantities, the record labels don't want to know. It's what we used to call 'bubble gum music' way back!

People who understand and enjoy real music are less well catered for.

[Tim]

It's what we used to call 'bubble gum music' way back!

I still call it that Geoff and still don't like it. Never been into pop or anything considered mainstream.

[Haselsh1]

I still call it that Geoff and still don't like it. Never been into pop or anything considered mainstream.

Oh yeah I remember back in the old days of senior school there were a small selection of us youths that were unbelievably snobbish about our choice of music and that choice was inevitably Prog Rock. Those who weren't with us were definitely not worth taking seriously. How times change. These days it is mainly manufactured for early teens who haven't got a clue what Am is and don't really care. Then of course there are those who think some guy talking over a drum machine is music. Back in my day it was so damn cool to be 'into' music. Jesus if you could play Smoke On The Water on a guitar you were damn near worshipped.

I just can't understand what happened. Maybe the whole record company greed thing just ran out of steam and energy. Those companies certainly milked it for every million even blaming people for using cassette tape. I guess our whole outlook was totally different to theirs now and maybe 'we' are simply stuck in a time warp of our own making...? I go to people's houses now and there is no hi-fi system to be seen. I just don't understand that which I guess leads to it all being a matter of priorities. Why don't today's youth understand and appreciate music...? Why is playing a video game so much more important...? Why is staring at what is called a 'phone' so entrancing...? I just don't get it in the same way they just don't get me. Maybe these youth's are not emotionally moved by minor keys the way I was...? Maybe they just don't hear how moving 7/8 is when played by Bill Bruford...? Maybe they just don't appreciate that shiver...???