Vinyl's Role in a Digital Realm

Vinyl as of late has been making an impact again the music industry. Music lovers all over the world have been tracking down their favorite albums on vinyl in the past few years. Events such as Record Store Day have fueled the fire that is hunting down limited release records and running home to put them on your record player. Sounds like something your parents said before, right? I know that my current vinyl collection has some people fairly jealous of what I have to offer, although many people also hate my collection because I haven't played one on a needle yet. I am a visual collector rather than a vinyl audiophile. The picture in this blog is only a snippet of my collection and I have tons more awaiting to be hung on my wall.

Why vinyl? An article on TechGeek puts a little light on why vinyl has become so popular as of late. The article shows that the sales of vinyl are the highest they have been in 15 years. The article, written in August 2013, states that at the time of the article vinyl sales was up 33.5% since 2012. This increase is more admirable than the CD sales decline of 14%. A lot of the blame of CD sales of late is pinned on the rise of Spotify and Pandora streaming services.

Many audiophiles state that they love the sound of vinyl recordings over normal CD quality. As a music engineer myself, I can say that there are tons of differences in CD and Vinyl recordings to ensure that a vinyl record can actually be made. It takes special attention to ensure a vinyl sounds like it does. Along with sound, engineers must make extra special attention to vinyl mixes to ensure the bass in tracks (like dubstep) don't make the needle skip all over on the record. While I do not agree that vinyl's audio quality surpasses that of a CD, I can respect one's opinion that a preference of sound is very unique and enjoyable.

Along with the awesome, sometimes multicolored, piece of wax there usually contains a complimentary iTunes download code to download the digital version as well. So, what you get is a (sometimes) limited edition vinyl record and a digital copy to take with you on your iPhone or Android. This package mostly comes for the small fee of just $15, or in some cases $30 if the release is a limited edition version or a high profile artist. Personally, in my collection I have releases limited to 100, 500, 5000, and even 50. The numbers are very appealing to me and I see the records as a long-term investment as well as an audio showcase.

Along with the above comes the hunt. The hunt for limited releases or 'mistakes' on records has become a very popular thing as of late. Many people tend to always mention the very rare first pressing of Sgt. Peppers by The Beatles that shows the Capitol Records employees in the collage rather than the celebrities that we all know of today being on the cover. It is believe that only 40-50 copies of this press exist and are extremely valuable. These mistakes or rarities still occur today; a vinyl in my record collection called "The Alchemy Index" by Thrice is #5 of 2000 and contains a misprinted disc. After the release, a new cut of this record was sent to me to replace the erroneous disc.

How about on a band's perspective? Why vinyl? A band, with a pretty decent fan base, can press 500 7" vinyls for a limited release for the small cost of $2,995. The vinyls include a color of their choice and labels. This breaks down to only $4.59 per vinyl. If a band were to sell the press for only $10 then they can make $2,005 profit. This can go towards expenses the band incurs. The band can also
release this album via a social media page or their self managed website to take the middleman out of the picture as well for more profit margins. Great marketing and a little though can sell out these 500 copies in no time. Along with the vinyl why not print some download codes on pieces of paper and offer the digital download as well as an added incentive?

I do see vinyl staying around and growing in the next couple years. There are also some hints at cassette tapes making their way back into record stores alongside of the vinyl records. I fully support the comeback of this form of media so we can spark more revenue streams within the industry.

References:

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Music/Pix/pictures/2009/10/27/1256644978035/Capitol-Records-edition-o-001.jpg

http://techgeek.com.au/2013/08/15/why-is-vinyl-becoming-popular/

http://mrbass.id.au/LPs/small/thrice_ai_1.jpg