Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Collecting Vinyl Records

By Alex Tesla


The decline of the vinyl record has turn into a statement all too common in the music industry. Vinyl records had been supposed to become a dead audio format a long time ago, but have persevered through many technological modifications within the music business.

In this day and age of ipods and digital downloads, where individuals can fit thousands of songs in this kind of a neat little package, how has the vinyl record managed to compete; what is the allure?

Recent study reveals that teenagers appreciate the physical experience they get with a vinyl record and also the interaction between themselves and the record. There is a particular ritual 1 should depend on to play a vinyl record, and much to the dismay of the digital world, the youth of the world is receptive to this type of interaction.

For some, collecting vinyl records is an obsession, a life long journey to acquire concealed masterpieces locked away in the attics and basements around the world. For others, just possessing a couple of selected gems from their favorite band or recording artist is enough to fulfill their collecting palate.

Then there's the thrilling excitment of the hunt, scouring the online internet sites and auctions looking for a rare or collectible record for their collection. For the adventurous, you will find the numerous garage product sales, rummage sales, flea markets and the like, that dot the countryside in each and every town in United States. There, they are able to research through the dusty boxes and bins for the next unique add-on to their presently growing vinyl record collection. There's nearly a sense of pride, self-worth, in the event you will, in finding what you are looking for, if only to be happy for a moment, till you realize you need to find another uncommon treasure to add to your collection.

Ever since Alex Steinweiss created the very first album cover for Columbia Records in 1939, album cover artwork continues to be highly collectible and it is part of music background. Classic album covers such as the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, Janis Joplin's Cheap Thrills (designed by Robert Crumb), Led Zeppelins' Physical Graffiti are iconic. Some bands enlisted the help of world renowned artists to design the album covers and ideas for his or her latest releases, including the Rolling Stones, who used Andy Warhol's idea for their album Sticky Fingers.

For quite a few, collecting vinyl is definitely an investment. Not only a monetary investment but a cultural 1 as well. Vinyl records are part of pop tradition as we know it and certainly part of the rock and roll era. Conserving vinyl records, the artwork, the music, is a very important part of this phenomenon.

But the one factor that sets vinyl apart from all other musical formats is the fact that vinyl records just sound the best. There is no substitute for the sound reproduction that vinyl brings to music, no digital counterpart. And for that, the vinyl record will carry on to survive, if not thrive.






About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment