This week, the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times took on the “vinyl is back” trend, thus becoming the 1,495th publication in the United States to do so in the past year. Of course, the editors of the fashion-conscious Styles put their own imprimatur on the trend piece that so many other publications have tackled over the past year–and in doing so, they inadvertently provided yet another bend on the angle, one that assures countless pieces about the refound vogue of the LP in fashion magazines, where the pieces will be paired with catsuit-heavy fashion spreads instead of pictures depicting N-E-R-D-S. After the jump, the template provided by the Times for any other consumption-conscious publications who want to hop on this creaky, increasingly pricey bandwagon. (Those of you toiling on Fashion Rocks, take notes now so you’ll be ready for the big “vinyl is back” expose that you’ll run come 2010!)
1. Start with a lede that could just as easily be repurposed for another regular column in your publication–in this case, the “romance among the whiteys” Styles staple known as the “Modern Love” column.
During his freshman year at Point Park University in Pittsburgh a couple years ago, James Acklin, now 20, felt lost among the social cliques on his new campus until he got to talking with a student who was in some of his classes. She seemed unusual, and it wasn’t just her look: thick-framed eyeglasses, bangs and vintage dresses. Then, one rainy day in February, the two skipped class and went to her apartment. As soon as she opened her door his instincts were confirmed: she had a turntable. So did he. They both spoke the language of vinyl.
Their bond was sealed as soon as she placed the stylus on an LP by the band Broken Social Scene, he said in an e-mail message.
2. Tie the “vinyl resurgence” trend to another yuppie hobby that’s gone from “retro cuteness” to “current, better-for-you hotness.” Like growing your own veggies!
“It’s almost a back-to-nature approach,” Mr. Gagnon said. “It’s the difference between growing your own vegetables and purchasing them frozen in the supermarket.”
3. Numbers, numbers, numbers! Especially out-of-context ones that merely gloss over larger issues like dwindling shelf space for albums, the increasing price of producing vinyl, etc.
The industry had shipments of 3.4 million LPs and EPs in 1998 and just over 900,000 in 2006, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
But shipments jumped about 37 percent in 2007, to nearly 1.3 million records. Three years ago Warner Bros. Records returned to the format when it opened becausesoundmatters.com, an online vinyl store stocked with reissues and new releases. At first, any vinyl release that sold 3,000 copies was considered a success, said Tom Biery, who oversees vinyl sales for the company. By comparison, the 2007 Wilco album, “Sky Blue Sky,” surpassed 14,000 copies.
Mass-market retailers like Virgin Megastore and smaller record stores like Mondo Kim’s in Manhattan are devoting more floor space to the antiquarian 12-inch disc of late. Newbury Comics, a chain of 29 music and merchandise stores in New England, has sold 400 turntables since it started selling them in June, Duncan Browne, a company executive, said.
4. Make sure to note that the vinyl resurgence has the potential to be something on which one can plunk down an absurd chunk of change.
Deluxe editions are trophies of sorts for passionate fans, Mr. Biery said. In September, for example, Warner Bros. Records will release a new Metallica album, “Death Magnetic,” in a five-record box version — each of 10 songs will get its own side — for about $115.
5. And by spending all that money, your reader can stand out in a crowd! If she doesn’t mind toting around a DJ bag all the time, that is.
In an era when “everybody’s music collection is the same” thanks to file swapping, collecting expensive, unwieldy LPs is a conspicuous way for the superfans to advertise their cognoscenti status, he said.
“It’s a customer who wants to have vinyl in their home the same way they want books in their home,” Mr. Wishnow said. For such a customer, he added, the message is, ” ‘When I can have all the music in the world in the palm of my hand, what does it say about me that I spend $15 to $20 for this format that is a pain to store and move and is easily damaged?’ “
6. Close out the piece by soothing the reader, telling her that embracing this trend will not only expand her consumeristic horizons, it’ll make her smart.
“I have a ton of music on iTunes,” Mr. Karoly said, “but with that music I get A.D.D. really quick. With my LPs, it’s like reading a book as opposed to clicking through articles on Yahoo.”
“When you put on a record,” he added, “it’s an event.”
Another Spin For Vinyl [NYT]
Could they choose a more stereotypical scene for that picture?
Egads, that makes me wanna sell off my cassette collection to hipsters at $30 a tape – because tapes are the new vinyl, ya know.
And vinyl is especially great on long drives as long as your shocks are in pretty good shape.
“I met my wife in a soulseek chat room” would have been a more compelling romance sory as far as I’m concerned.
Vinyl records are now coming with CDs or download coupons.
EGAD! Imagine this … you pay money and you actually get something for it! Instead of a virtual “rental” of a music file that goes away when your HD crashes … you have a real, substantial collectible thing that has actual value.
Now wait – YOU GET MORE! In exchange for your money when buying an LP you are given, free of charge, the right to sell it to someone else! You heard me correctly – no need to clean out your ears (unless you think the iPod is the last word in fidelity) – when you buy an LP, you are also allowed to sell it.
You can’t do that with an MP3, no sir … not without breaking the law. If you sell your MP3, that’s called Piracy! But if you sell your LP … well that’s just business between collectors.
Not convinced? Still think that because records are heavier than files, they don’t recommend themselves to the enjoyment of music? Well, with the advent of many fine USB turntables, you can actually transfer the actual vinyl sounds … those full dynamic range tracks completely uncompressed and full of LIFE … transfer them right to your computer and load them into your iPod. So now you can have your records at home and listen to them on the turntable when you want the best posisble sound, AND you can have them on your iPod for convenience and portability.
You can’t beat that, folks.
http://www.bigblackdisk.ning.com – join the revolutions
“She seemed unusual, and it wasn’t just her look: thick-framed eyeglasses, bangs and vintage dresses.”
Yeah, I never saw at least 5 women meeting this description in every one of my classes in college.
I think a great story would be somehow who has an extensive Nickelback, Daughtry and Creed vinyl collection.
Oh..so he met a girl by having similar tastes in style, dress, and music? Yea, that’s never happened before.
@Audif Jackson Winters III: Seriously. Not that I know the clique breakdown of Point Park, but every idiot hipster girl in the world dresses like that these days, or at least that’s her entry-level wardrobe.
I saw this article and said, “Really, NYT, really? NOW you’re getting to this?” I got about a paragraph into it and was too disgusted to keep reading. Glad to see my suspicions were right and it gave absolutely no new information/thoughts.
@2ironic4u: That’s the ONLY “vinyl is back!” story that could possibly interest me at this point.
I would like to state for the record that I don’t have bangs. Guilty as charged on everything else, though. Does it count if I’ve been dressing this way since high school? In the 90′s? Oh god, wait. That’s a whole other level of patheticness, isn’t it?
So, uh … Would you like to see my vinyl collection? Contains ACTUAL RECORDS I bought when mainstream albums still came out on vinyl.
So, wait … if I’m so on trend, how come my records haven’t netted me a boyf yet?
(LOLZ!)
@Varina: I remember when several newspapers championed the vinyl “revival,” oh, 15 YEARS AGO. How about a story about LPs growing more expensive than CDs now they are a special “niche” and oil prices are going up? Back in the 90′s, LPs were usually $8-9. Today, they are $15-20. There is also the matter of the 12-inch single’s decline thanks to iTunes and other MP3 retailers selling the same material at a lot cheaper price.
The entry level alts in love thing still warms part of my heart I thought I’d killed for a good reason. Otherwise, I feel like these articles have become like natural disasters that don’t actually hurt anyone.
@the rich girls are weeping: by which i mean, netted me a boyf since I’ve been single this time around? clarification needed.
@the rich girls are weeping: It still counts if you’ve been dressing that way since high school…
I’ll just chime in with a short version of what I always say on these vinyl posts:
Vinyl by the ’80s sounded like ass (outside of classical and jazz, and sometimes even there), it didn’t weigh 180 grams, it only rarely came in beautiful gatefold covers, and most turntables were shit. The CD was invented for a reason — yes, besides record-label greed. Just sayin’.
@2ironic4u: *sigh* Ok. Well, at least I’ll never be mistaken for an entry-level alt, thanks to the crow’s feet.
@Chris Molanphy: True. Some of my albums are so burned and blown out I can’t play them when I dj anyway.
I’m really enjoying this idiotic thread. Bitchy, bitter, incredibly ignorant and really fun to read people who know nothing stepping in their own doody. Why does it bother you people so much that other people enjoy vinyl? Are you bitter that they’re having a good time? Do you feel left out? Do you just love your shitty sounding Mp3s? Do those plastic little computer speakers harden your weiners enough? Love that CD packaging? The “crisp” dead, lifeless sound? Enjoy music that sucks the air out of the room?
Really. You know most people will continue loving McDonalds. That’s you. The people who want a better experience, who eat better, drink better and listen better apparently really threaten you. They threaten your world even though you’re in the majority.
Vinyl will continue to grow as more people appreciate its superior sonics. But it will never become mainstream so why does this bother you so much?
Perhaps it’s Neil Young’s line that says it best: “With digital the mind is fooled, but the heart is sad.”
You’re very sad here. Sad, bitter, little computer people…
@Cam/ron:
CDs are priced up in the $12 – $15 range these days, too.
Went shopping for vinyl last week, got these:
Shellac – At Action park: $13.99
Shellac – Terraform: $13.99
Noot D’Noot: Goofer Dust; $11.99
It’s Casual: Stop Listning to bad Music: $12.99
It’s Casual: The New Los Angeles: $12.99
Beck: Modern Guit: $12.99
Now … let’s do some inflation adjusting. CPI calculators indicate that the record in 1990 @ $8.99 would now cost $14.83 … so all those records I bought last week are bargains (especially as some of them included some level of download gratis).
Did anyone check whether that writer of the NY Times piece had written one of the earlier ones? ‘Cause I swear i thought I’d read most of it before, right down to the quotes from Biery, Newbury, etc.
Or is it just that there have been so many of these now that they’re all running into each other…
@grooves11: Hi there, Alex!
@BBDisk: Those records are definitely bargains, although both of those Shellac records are more than a decade old.
In 20 years, will I be finding Broken Social Scene records along side Peter Framption and Herb Alpert at Goodwill.
@Cam/ron: Yeah, I remember that too. This is at least the second vinyl comeback I can think of since the mall stores stopped carrying it.
@grooves11: Please, tell me what kind of turntable you have because you’re speaking like a hipster with a POS ‘table that no one in their right mind would think sounds better than anything. And, for the record (pun intended,) I do happen to have a pretty damn good system and I don’t buy the vinyl better than all every time line.
That NY Times piece, similar to the many that have come before it, sucked. Are you sure it wasn’t ripped from Teen Beat? I have loved records since childhood and will continue to do so, whether it’s chic with the tastemakers or not. Twits that jump on the bandwagon because some trend-sniffing idiot told them to do so are ridiculous.
@philip sherburne: Also, the article never mentions how vinyl sounds. The article implies that the only reason anyone would listen to vinyl anymore is that vinyl is very hip in a counter pop sort of way. I suppose that there are people who listen to vinyl because it is so retro but to concentrate on that aspect is really missing the boat.
@Captain Wrong: In 20 years, will I be finding Broken Social Scene records along side Peter Framption and Herb Alpert at Goodwill.
Well, this will apparently allow you to seduce someone at that time who’s being born any day now. (So send a note to Bristol Palin ASAP so she knows what to tell her child.)
@Cam/ron:
The Shellac records are old, sure … but go look in the CD bins. The older CDs are more expensive than the new ones, typically. AND – I bought those Shellac records as new this past week, which means they are still being pressed.
Similar prices were paid for Guster, Spoon, Neutral Milk Hotel, et al.
As well, there’s a treasure trove of great used vinyl in our local shops that you can get for under $3.00, and one of our writers just did a quick survey of $0.98 records she picked up at Mod Lang in El Cerrito, CA … five records for less than $5
I’m not anti-digital, mind you … but CD’s never thrilled me (always scratching and jewel cases breaking, and the liner notes are so small they discourage you from reading), and now CDs will become extinct thanks to digital distribution moving to virtual schemes. So it’s a little bit miffing when they ask you for money and give you nothing but a listening right in return … I can get that from the radio, or Pandora, or Live365 for free. Why pay?
I can get a vinyl record, which sounds so much nicer to my ears, for around the same money. They include the download for free or include an actual CD, and in the case where I think the vinyl was mastered better … I use a USB turntable to digitize the music for the iPod or server. By purchasing the vinyl, I actually get everything – including the collectible.
And that’s one point that some writers miss: Like comic books, vinyl records aren’t going to go away because they are collectible. You won’t replace the graphic novel and the comic book with a virtual simulacrum – they are what they are because they are physical, collectible, authentic.
Join the revolutions! Show us your Big Black Disk:
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@friendslikeJimRome: Also, the article never mentions how vinyl sounds. The article implies that the only reason anyone would listen to vinyl anymore is that vinyl is very hip in a counter pop sort of way. I suppose that there are people who listen to vinyl because it is so retro but to concentrate on that aspect is really missing the boat.
There is one reference to the sound of vinyl, actually – it’s in the puzzling quote by James Acklin, the young vinyl enthusiast described in the article, who says that “(i)t takes a special kind of person to appreciate pops and clicks and imperfections in their music.” It’s odd that the writer (Alex Williams) chose to highlight this particular aspect of vinyl (its imperfections) without mentioning any of the reasons that audiophiles give for sticking with vinyl (the “warmth” of LP’s, for example). Is this his way of gently poking fun at these new fans of vinyl – to say that the kids of today, in their search for an authentic experience, are finding it in the “pops and clicks” of LP’s?
@Captain Wrong:
I know what record player Grooves has … I PROMISE … you will lose this battle.
@D.R. Mosby:
The thing I prefer about vinyl skips vs. CD skips:
When vinyl skips, you get a full revolution of music before the next skip. But when CD skips, it’s like a machine gun going KACHUNKACHUNGKACHUNGKACHUNG, begging someone to make a dive for the stop button before the repetition of sound actually kills infants and small children.
@BBDisk: Or you can compose music from those CD skips (ex. Oval, Yasunao Tone).
Anyhow, regarding your earlier post, it looks like we’re from different eras. I used to regularly order my vinyl from indie mailorder a decade ago when a new double-album would only cost $10 postpaid. I mainly stuck with vinyl since it was a cheaper alternative to CDs. I was also into the whole “I’m a defiant punk who won’t be seduced by the corporate CD business, blah, blah” attiude, plus I liked the collectability aspect (I have my share of colored discs, picture discs, locked-groove discs, etc.) Now that vinyl is a fad again and manufacturing costs are rising, it’s disheartening for me to see vinyl prices matching and often eclipsing CD prices.
As a vinyl aficionado, Point Park graduate, freelance journalist and writer of a blog that almost primarily deals with vinyl rips, I feel that I am qualified to comment on this horribly written article:
Problem 1: The writer mentions Pittsburgh in a vinyl article but doesn’t mention Jerry’s Records? That place is one of the largest vinyl-only stores in the country and everything is dirt cheap. Today I bought a 12” singles by Big Country, Pet Shop Boys and Pete Shelley for less than 12 bucks. Last week I bought five Pop Will Eat Itself singles for 20 bucks.
Problem 2: There are two cliques in Point Park, dancers (it’s mostly a dance school) and annoying hipsters who sound just like the “unusual” Mr. Hipster fell in love with.
Problem 3: No mention of audio quality? What about The Loudness Wars? The main reason a lot of new artists are releasing their albums on vinyl is because the limitations of the format make it much harder for the labels to crank up the volume to a point where it has an effect on sound quality.
I get so angry whenever I read articles like this, not only because I’m a music geek but because I’m an underemployed writer who needs work! Hey Generic Newspapers of America, call me.
@Cam/ron:
Hey Cam/ron … I get your take on it. But defiant punks don’t care to pay for anything … download via Gnutella or bittorrent, etc. It’s just copyright infringement, right? That’s what the downloaders say, anyway …
Vinyl is a “fad” just because it’s popular enough to appeal to a niche group, but not so popular that everyone is doing it. If it were for a smaller group, not enough bands would think it was worthwhile to try and release vinyl … if it were bigger, it would surpass “fad” and just be standard.
Prices aren’t really going up … you’re just getting better quality material in the process. 180g records, nice gatefold jackets, cool art, etc. The musicians and labels care enough to release the vinyl. I mean, puhleaase … It’s Casual couldn’t give a rat’s rear-end if “audiophiles” buy their records. These guys remain punk long after, like vinyl, it was pronounced dead.
And maybe that’s where the real defiance is. Vinyl may be fad in some circles, but it’s not some dweebie download – it’s authentic, it’s real, it’s practically Rube Goldberg compared to the antiseptic download/playback schemes of the 21st Century. You actually have to interact with the vinyl … keep it clean, flip the sides, lower the needle into the groove. It requires your input.
One of our writers compared CDs to hookers, and vinyl to lovers. From a pure biological standpoint, the basic act is the same … but in terms of long term fulfillment, only one holds real promise.
I think that’s where the indie rock labels and bands hit gold … when they release vinyl they’re appealing to their fans’ sense of authenticity. CDs are just downloads trapped in ice, and everyone knows downloads are worthless because you can get them for free. Records are something else, something more, something real.
That’s my 2 cents.
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@Audif Jackson Winters III:
Do you think Lisa Loeb wishes she got a cut of the money spent by these girls on thick glasses and vintage dresses?
Grooves11, the problem isn’t with vinyl. I seriously doubt anyone posting here, or possibly even reading Idolator, is anti-vinyl. The problem is with the cheese-puff piece and its breathless tone. Faux-sociological trend pieces don’t do any service to their subject, and still less for the thinking brain. For a critique of trend pieces, see Jack Shafer at Slate: [www.slate.com]
Also, you said “doody.”
@bburl:
Vinyl can be mastered for The Loudness Wars … it’s just compression, and it’s horrible. My LP of Gnarls Barkley (theone with Crazy on it) sounded like sh!t. I’ve got a few others here that were made from the CD master, as if dumping the CD master to vinyl would make the vinyl ok. It doesn’t.
CD had great potential as a format, but that potential was never realized. Now … it’s going to go away. No more CD within 2 to 5 years. Downloads replace CDs, and the only physical medium left will be vinyl records. That’s the fuzzy-logic prediction-cone. Stay ahead of the curve … buy vinyl.
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Yeah, and let’s not forget the loudness war. Vinyl can’t be mastered that way (physical limitations of the medium). So most vinyl pressings are going to sound superior to the cd even though they have hiss and pops and clicks as well as all the other drawbacks of the medium. Don’t get me wrong, a properly done cd will kick vinyl’s ass; the problem is, cd’s are almost never done properly anymore.
I realise this isn’t a very good comment but it made me smile!
Diplomacy is the art of saying good doggie while looking for a bigger stick. :)