Vinyl makes a comeback despite digital times

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By Kayla Falgoust

As time and technology have advanced, the audiocassette has practically vanished altogether, and the CD is traveling down a steep decline. As digital download sites replace physical music retailers, the cumbersome CD format fades in favor of the weightless mp3. Music is simply losing its romance in order to achieve something more compact than the compact disc.

However, despite the recent downward spiral of CD sales, vinyl is on the rise, giving the music industry one last chance to get it right.

The vinyl record has been considered obsolete for some time now. Somewhere within the rise of the audiocassette and compact disc, the standard 10 or 12-inch LP was pushed to the back of storage closets and buried deep within dusty attics. Although the seemingly ancient format has been forgotten, it is not entirely lost.

“I feel like the main reason people are turning to vinyl is because digital downloading and mp3s are kind of killing the CD,” said Rory Ventress of The Compact Disc Store on Jefferson Highway. “For music nerds like me – people who actually still want to go buy music – vinyl is becoming the format of choice. If you are against just downloading, if you still want the artwork and if you want something tangible, I think it’s the superior format.”

Started in 1985 by current owner Brad Pope, The Compact Disc Store opened at a time when the CD was just a novel idea without much mainstream appeal. According to Ventress, Pope, like many others of his generation, grew up listening to vinyl and made the transition to CDs at a time when the concept was still new and exciting.

“Brad [Pope] swears by CDs because he was raised with LPs,” said Ventress. “He feels that CDs are way superior because they don’t wear down or anything like that.”

On the other hand, Ventress, a 23-year old guitar player, has his own convictions about analog and digital sound.

“Vinyl really is noticeably different,” said Ventress. “I think the way that I discovered the difference [between CDs and records] was becoming obsessed with the Beatles and learning the entire Beatles catalog on CD. Then I started collecting their old LPs from back in the day and playing those. You can really hear the difference.”

Furthermore, Ventress has noticed that many younger people have developed an increased interest in vinyl. While older customers will gravitate toward the store’s collection of used records, younger customers tend to browse the new releases. Additionally, the turntable has evolved over the years and is now compatible with most home computers, keeping up with the ever-changing needs of the average consumer.

“Nowadays, it is becoming the standard to have a record player with a USB connection to rip your LPs to your iTunes or whatever other program,” said Ventress.

“Also, a lot of indie records come with a free digital download [of the purchased album], which is a major incentive because everybody has an iPod now. The people who want to dork-it-up in their rooms with their records can still dork-it-up in their cars with their iPods too, which is such a cool incentive. I think buying a record combined with that option beats the crap out of a CD.”

As CD sales continue to fall, major record companies are trying to capitalize on the recent return to vinyl by reissuing many modern classics.

On August 19, Capitol/EMI will launch its “From the Capitol Vaults” promotion, reissuing albums by both Radiohead and Coldplay. The reissues, which include Coldplay’s Parachutes and A Rush of Blood to the Head and Radiohead’s OK Computer, Kid A, Amnesiac and Hail to the Thief, will be remastered on high-quality vinyl and will include the original album artwork.

Reportedly, this is just the first wave in a series of reissues by all four major record companies (EMI, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner), a movement that is thought to extend until at least the end of 2008. Other upcoming reissues on vinyl include A Perfect Circle’s Mer De Noms, R.E.M.’s Document, John Lennon’s Imagine, and the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds.

Additionally, there are many new releases on vinyl that are available through numerous music outlets.

In Baton Rouge, the Compact Disc Store offers a wide variety of music selections on CD from mainstream acts to lesser-known independent bands. The store also has several bins of newly released vinyl records as well as reissues and used LPs from various music genres.

According to several news sources, Best Buy also has an interest in supporting the vinyl trend. However, most of the records available on their Web site are on backorder or available for preorder only. Moreover, on a recent visit to Best Buy’s Bluebonnet location, there were no records for sale in the store, as their efforts remain a work in progress.

In any event, vinyl continues to be within the reach of almost any Internet user. Although some albums are hard to find on vinyl, many can be tracked down through online record stores, individual online sellers on sites like Amazon.com and eBay, or a quick Google search. On average, vinyl records range between $15 and $30 per album.

Turntables can also be purchased online. While the price of a turntable fluctuates with its capabilities, a basic turntable for simply listening to records can cost under $100. For a good comparison of some reasonably priced systems, go to TurnTableLab.com and browse through the DJ equipment.

That being said, CDs and mp3s continue to be excellent formats for listening to music. Just as the CD revolutionized the music world back in the early 1980s, the mp3 is now changing the business once again. However, despite the technological advances of the digital age, there is still a place in the music industry for analog sound, and it would be a sad circumstance to let life go by without ever experiencing the difference.

Originally Published: Issue 694 - July 23, 2008

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