Disc competition… Vinyl revival a spin-out
Author: MX
Monday, December 17, 2001
Some 20 years after it was invented, the power of the compact disc is waning.Two new disc-based formats are competing for the ears and wallets of consumers, Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio.
Both offer multi-channel sound and claim to be at the cutting edge of audio technology.
Then there are the MP3 fans who like to download their tunes from the Internet.
On top of that the original silver disc is feeling the heat from a format which many music fans long since consigned to the dustbin of audio history, the good old long-playing record.
For years the aficionados of analog music reproduction were regarded as hopelessly nostalgic, enthusiasts clinging to the past.
But support in recent years has come from an unexpected quarter.
Young people now think it "cool" to emulate DJs and play vinyl records on the home stereo.
In Germany, for instance, the number of new LPs sold every year has risen from 450,000 in 1999 to more than one million this year.
The Analog Audio Association (for the preservation and promotion of analog musical reproduction) has 1000 members and the trend is upward.
AAA chairman Dusan Klimo estimates that around 50,000 music lovers in Germany are diehard champions of vinyl.
The number is derived from attendance figures at the numerous record exchanges held up and down the country.
The record industry has picked up on the trend and has started offering more new releases on vinyl.
"At first it was just the smaller, independent labels that went for LPs," says Amir Esmaili from Munich, who runs a mail order record business via the Internet (
For $35 Esmaili can offer a vinyl edition of the latest Michael Jackson album Invincible.
In the case of classical music new LPs are nearly all releases from the back catalogue.
The records are pressed using thicker vinyl to ensure longevity and that has its price. LPs can cost up to $80.
Esmaili has 8000 different releases on offer.
Enthusiasts of techno, house and hip-hop music like LPs because of their versatility.
Vinyl records can be easily sampled "and you can't 'scratch' a CD," points out Esmaili.
He's not referring to imperfections caused by wear, but the practice of twirling vinyl records on the turntable to produce the weird noises beloved by disc jockeys and their fans.
Members of Klimo's club are convinced that the CD just cannot compete with an analog record in terms of sound clarity and fidelity.
The CD is music in digital form and opponents say details just get left out when the discs are recorded.
(MX, December 2001)">http://www.vinylnet.de).
"Since then the big labels have jumped on the bandwagon."
For $35 Esmaili can offer a vinyl edition of the latest Michael Jackson album Invincible.
In the case of classical music new LPs are nearly all releases from the back catalogue.
The records are pressed using thicker vinyl to ensure longevity and that has its price. LPs can cost up to $80.
Esmaili has 8000 different releases on offer.
Enthusiasts of techno, house and hip-hop music like LPs because of their versatility.
Vinyl records can be easily sampled "and you can't 'scratch' a CD," points out Esmaili.
He's not referring to imperfections caused by wear, but the practice of twirling vinyl records on the turntable to produce the weird noises beloved by disc jockeys and their fans.
Members of Klimo's club are convinced that the CD just cannot compete with an analog record in terms of sound clarity and fidelity.
The CD is music in digital form and opponents say details just get left out when the discs are recorded.
(MX, December 2001) Tags