[Note: this is cross-posted from another blog I write on. I've made a few changes here to make it audience-relevant]
I’ve made a lot of fuss lately about vinyl, mostly because I’ve been buying a lot of it, but also because the format is showing new life. Vinyl sales in 2008 were up 147% over the previous year according to the RIAA, the only physical format to show any positive growth at all. My reasons for buying vinyl are numerous, and I’m going to attempt to list them here.
1. I stopped buying CDs in 2002. I am not going to lie, I haven’t bought a new CD in 7 years. I won’t go too in-depth on the reasons for this, since it’s enough material for an entire book. The gist of it is that I became disillusioned and upset around that time, and just stopped. I’ve bought some used CDs, and I will sometimes by a CD directly from the artist, but I haven’t bought a new CD at retail in a long time. And so I turned to vinyl.
2. I download a lot of music. I do this through a number of different channels. The options are many – from Amazon to iTunes to Lala to a variety of less legal methods. For the most part, this is still my preferred method of listening to music due to its accessibility, portability, and searchability. Most, if not all, of the new music I discover is through digital channels and recommendation systems. Because I download a lot of music, CDs have become less and less important to me, and vinyl has filled that void.
3. There is a lot of used vinyl out there. I’m lucky enough to live in a gigantic city with a few outstanding record stores, almost all of which sell used vinyl for cheap. There’s Amoeba Music, the undisputed heavyweight champion of independently owned stores. But there’s also The Record Surplus, a great little westside spot that has an incredible selection of classic vinyl. Typical used vinyl prices are less than 5 bucks a record, with many only a dollar or less. Rare vinyl is typically pricey, though I just snagged a couple of double-disc Prince original pressings in excellent condition for less than 10 bucks each.
4. It just sounds better. I’m not going to debate this. It’s not worth arguing, it’s a matter of taste. And I like the sound of vinyl better.
5. Vinyl is beautiful. It’s really hard to argue with the fact that album artwork looks better in a bigger format. I’ve yet to buy a record that I didn’t want to just stare at. And with vinyl packages starting to rival the CD deluxe boxes, you can get cool shit like colored/clear vinyl, crazy box sets, poster inserts, sleeve art, etc.
6. Some record companies are getting it right. I’m proud to work at a record company that ships more vinyl than any of the other major labels. But we screw a couple things up: no digital versions included with most of our records. There’s a subsidiary of my label, though, that gets it very, very right: Nonesuch is a former avant-garde label that has branched out significantly into jazz, rock, and world music, and gets vinyl absolutely 100% right. How? The majority of vinyl releases come with a CD, and all for just slightly higher than the retail price of the CD alone. Typical releases are 17 dollars. The beauty of this: I can do anything I want with this music. I don’t have to record the vinyl to MP3, don’t have to download 320kbps if I really want V0 or FLAC, and I can put it in my car or on my iPod. It’s really the best of all worlds for a pretty reasonable price. I’ll settle for a download card, but the CD is a really nice touch. Some other labels, like Anti, do a really cool thing: the download card that comes with the album can be shared with up to 5 other people. Record labels take note: these are major incentives for me to buy your album on vinyl.
7. There’s something really fun about vinyl. Maybe it’s the engagement factor: you have to care about that music enough to flip it over when the first side is done. You have to carefully place the needle if you want to hear a specific song. You can’t put it on shuffle. You have to cock your head sideways while staring at your shelf to find what you’re looking for. All of this goes contrary to what I said in point 2 above, but I always like to have a bit of balance. It’s not so much nostalgia (I may be young, but I still had vinyl before cassettes and before CDs), and it’s not so much about snobbery (though I admit I am one). It’s about the fetishistic physicality of vinyl that can’t be duplicated by 1s and 0s on a hard drive. And don’t get me started on how much I enjoy digging through crates at record stores…
8. I don’t buy all of it. I started working at a record company three months ago, and have instantly amassed a plethora of new vinyl releases. It is, far and away, the single best thing about working at a record label.
9. The vinyl community is undeniably awesome and simultaneously completely nuts. Don’t believe me? Go to a record fair sometime. It’s as if the comic book guy from The Simpsons got a Rush record from his brother when he was in high school and decided his path to obscurity would be much more fun with a little rock and roll.
10. I inherited my parents’ vinyl collection. Forty five years worth of great recordings, mostly 60s and 70s rock bands, but with some serious gems. I’ve got nearly all the Zappa albums, every single Beatles album, and my dad was even kind enough to buy a couple of Captain Beefheart records in his glory days. Digging through these stacks has not only given me a completely new appreciation for my parents, but a glimpse into the record collecting of years past.
