Why Is Vinyl Still Relevant?
The last decade has seen a resurgence in the popularity of vinyl records, with vinyl sales back to the level they were at in the early 1990’s. Although sales are nowhere near the numbers of it’s 1970’s heyday, it seems vinyl is reestablished as a legitimate format in the eyes of the buying public. Why is one of the oldest forms of physical music media still selling by the millions nearly a century after its introduction?
In the era of streaming, music is more readily available than ever before. Though having a nearly incomprehensible amount of songs at our fingertips is an amazing and convenient tool for discovering new music, there is something that is lost in the lack of a tactile experience. The experience of vinyl feels more personal. Before you even listen to the music, you get to examine the artwork in a larger, more detailed format. You might turn it over to the backside to read the song titles. Maybe the sleeve is a gatefold that opens to detailed photos of the artist, or a full sheet of lyrics. Once you finally slide the vinyl out, you can look closely at the thousands of grooves; like the rings of a tree they are a unique snapshot of a specific moment in time. When you listen to an album digitally all of this experience is absent.
Although there is a vast amount of music available digitally, there are still albums that are unavailable, due to rarity, copyright issues, or an artist’s desire to stay offline. Even with widely available albums, there may be certain runs with special cover art, or a limited amount of first edition prints. Things like this make vinyl highly collectable. Searching through the bins at your local record shop and pulling out that certain record you’ve been seeking for months is a feeling like no other. Though some rare records can fetch thousands of dollars, you don’t need to spend near that much to have fun collecting. Sometimes it's more rewarding to find something interesting and unexpected in the discount bin at your local shop.
There is a special sound quality that is unique to vinyl. Unlike streaming or even CD’s which have digital files that are squished to fit a certain size, a good vinyl record stores sound in a much fuller format. Putting on your favorite vinyl record and listening to it through a pair of high fidelity headphones will truly make you experience the music in a new way. The lows will be deeper, the highs sweeter. You may hear quieter sounds in the background you didn’t even know were there. The only way you could hear the music better is if you were sitting in the studio while they made it. Though sound system set-ups can get cartoonishly expensive, you can put together a solid system for less than $500 (even cheaper if you look on the used market).
Putting a record on your turntable is a more deliberate action than just selecting a song on Spotify. By going through the ritual of selecting the album, pulling it from its sleeve, and carefully placing the needle at its edge, you are forced to think deeper about the album as a whole. As you can’t easily skip through songs like in a playlist, you are much more likely to listen to the entire work as the artist intended. If you’re alone, this can be a self-reflective and meditative act. When listening to records with friends it becomes a social one, where you can share the experience of hearing something new in songs you may have heard dozens of times before, discuss the way the tracks flow from one to another, or even nerd out about the album art. When it's not as easy to listen passively, you may find a new appreciation for your favorite music, or even find new favorites you previously missed.
In the modern era of music listening, both streaming and vinyl have their place. While vinyl may not be as convenient or portable as streaming, it provides a unique experience that is essential for any music lover to try. The process of slowing down and allowing yourself to fully absorb the effects of an album, from finding it at the store to putting the needle on the groove, is something that is only really offered with vinyl. If you’ve been curious about the world of vinyl, there has never been a better time to dive in!
