After the introduction of CD’s, the consumption of vinyl
records nearly halted. But along with the comeback of high-waisted shorts and
retro chunky sneakers, came the return of vinyls. Ever since rock music was
created, people were not only listening to records, people would hang them and
their coinciding album covers as a decorative piece. Since the mid 2000’s when
records became trendy again, people started purchasing a lot more and modern
bands have used this as a marketing advantage. In the 20th century,
most records were all black. Today, bands try to make their records unique and
unusual as a sales pitch to entice people to buy the pretty looking one. When
one of my favorite artists, Anthony Raneri, released a limited-edition record
that was clear pressed with actual coffee, fans went crazy buying them and now
I always think of him associated with coffee. Musicians weren’t always able to
do that.
Source: http://sacunplugged.com/post/49461736647/vinyl-review-paper-plastick
Avid record hoarder, Helene Baum (age 56), says that
whenever she is home she enjoys listening to them regardless if they are
popular or not. She states that it
brings her back to a time when life was much simpler and even though technology
has been changing, the increasing revival is marvelous. She loves the feel of the vinyl and the tasks
that come with listening to one such as taking it out of its cover slip,
putting it on the spindle, placing the needle in its correct position so that
the record isn’t scratched and ruined. Collecting records is something that
takes proper care and time so that they stay in perfect condition. Another
collector, Brenna Vecchio (age 22), says she’s one of the few people she knows
who collects mainly modern day records. When asked why she prefers to listen to
a record player as opposed to a Bose speaker or an iHome, she says that
“collecting records is not only a hobby but I also love the way the sound comes
out through the record player, it’s a traditional and classic sound to me and
makes me appreciate the music even more!” Taylor Wishnov, (age 23), agrees that
there is a sound that comes from a record unlike anything you can find on the
Internet. The imperfections are soothing to her. She thinks “it is amazing
records are having a comeback now because our generation has lost that feeling
of being able to purchase and hold their favorite record and listen to it in
order on repeat whenever they can.” Record fan, Connor Bishop (age 20), is very
excited that records have come back but feels as though they will die out again
shortly. He feels that while people may love records, money is going to be the
downfall because companies will start charging more for record players,
speakers and the record themselves. Because downloading music is so easy today,
as bad as it sounds, people will always take the easy way out when it comes
down to it. He recalls when Blink 182’s “Enema of the State” record first released
it was under $20 and now unfortunately is over $100.
With the rising popularity of vinyls, introduced Record
Store Day; a day devoted to special deals at existing record shops. Beginning
in 2007, it is held annually on the 3rd Saturday of April. Growing
up in a household with a trunk full of records and a fully-working record
player, I was very disappointed I couldn’t make it to yesterday’s local event.
However, according to Radio-Active Records in Ft. Lauderdale, it was a success.
The line wrapped around the building with people camping out as early as 5 PM the
night before the shop even opened at 8 AM. It’s a day that record stores unite to
celebrate music so usually there are various promotions and special
performances. At Radio-Active, there was
over 10,000 new arrivals and $1 sales, free beverages, free uber rides, and
giveaways from local venues.
Mark your calendars: next year’s date for Record Store Day
is set to April 17, 2017.
