The return of records to the record industry

AUSTIN, Texas. -- Remember the LP?

It's OK if you don't. Even in the media we hardly use the term for long-playing vinyl record, anymore. We hardly mention records, for that matter.

This could all be subject to change if the information presented at a South by Southwest session titled Vinyl Revival is anything to go by.

In the United Kingdom, where the CD single is basically dead, there is such a resurgence in vinyl that retailers can't keep up with capacity. In the U.S., figures as high as 22 per cent are being floated about the growth in vinyl record sales.

At a time when digital downloading is the thing, does this return to the "good old days" merely represent a small portion of audio geeks who pine for the tactile and genuine listening experience of playing a record on a turntable? Or is it, as Eric Levin, owner and president of Criminal Records/AIMS, thinks, the beginning of something big that will create a massive collectors' market a few decades from now?

If you gauged the demographics in the packed-to-capacity room, vinyl's return might have more to do with aging Gen X'ers wanting to play DJ in their "audio rooms" with their fancy hi-fi sound systems. Even Lou Reed, while condemning the crappy sonic scope of the MP3 format, admitted in his keynote speech that this kind of listening experience is the exclusive domain of those with enough cash to afford superior sound systems and have enough space in their homes to accommodate an audio room. The truth is, the iPOD and a set of good speakers fits really well in the modern family condo.

The thought of storing records in such limited space is cringe-inducing.

But Patrick Amory of Matador Records says that he can't print enough LPs of hit artists such as Cat Power, The New Pornographers, Times New Viking and the Ponys to service the marketplace. These are acts that many 20-somethings are devotees of, so this demographic is buying vinyl. Of course, they usually get a card with the free digital download of the album too, so the iPOD is loaded and when you are home, the turntable spins.

Cool. Now if only they could find a way to get that rich, warm LP sound on an MP3-related format, we might be back to the glory days of albums when it was more exciting than a search and click to hear new music.

Source [National Post]