By Dominic Mackie
The rise and the fall of the needle between the etched grooves, the warm hum of static, and the music starts to play. These actions once deemed destined for extinction.
But now vinyl records are spinning their way back into the homes and hearts of many.
The modern 33 1/3 RPM vinyl record was introduced in 1948 by American label Columbia Records after being developed by Hungarian-American Dr Peter Goldmark.
This innovation allowed musical artists and record labels the ability to produce around 21 minutes of music on each side.
The fascination for vinyl lasted till the late 1980s, before the mainstream introduction of CDs offering greater portability and durability, which led to a shift in consumer habits.
This created a sharp decline for vinyl which was outsold by CDs for the first time in 1988. CDs’ popularity grew rapidly, leading to them becoming the dominant music format by the early 1990s.
At the beginning of the new century, many in the music industry would have said vinyl was destined for extinction. CDs had a chokehold on listeners, and streaming services were about to turn everything on its head.
But in 2022 vinyl records outsold CDs for the first time in 35 years, with album sales growing to $260 million compared to CDs’ $218 million, according to KIIS 1065 Sydney.
But if you ask anyone passionate about the topic, they will tell you vinyl never left.
Brett Young, owner of the vibrant and engaging Halcyon Daze Records, known for its extensive and diverse selection of vinyl located on King Street, Newtown, is one of those enthusiasts.
Young believes vinyl was never truly “gone”, just underground, and the younger generations are starting to understand what that means.
When listening to vinyl, listeners undergo quite a personal journey.
It’s tangible. You get to pick the record out of its sleeve, experience the cover, you smell the cardboard, you hear the warm imperfections of the crackles and pops, and the listener realises they get to own the music that’s playing.
You also get to experience something that could have passed through one or many hands. They all have a history to tell.
“They kind of become part of your life’s soundtrack,” said Young.
That’s why younger generations are starting to turn to vinyl.
“There’s a history and connection there that their parents probably played it and instilled into them,” he said. “They just kept listening to it with bands such as Supertramp, Electric Light Orchestra and The Cars being the more sought-after vinyl.”
That’s why digital media is falling behind. There’s no substance within; it’s just a medium that you play, and that’s it. There’s no history behind it. It just appears within an algorithm.
Yes, it plays music and sounds like music, but there’s no history.
“You go back to the liner notes for vinyl,” said Young. “Everything that went into it. All the support staff, engineers, producers, right down to the cleaner for the studio, all that kind of stuff. It all went to making the pressing and finally for it to appear in a store, then to someone’s turntable.
“It means a lot more than some database somewhere in the world that just simply etches out, which doesn’t mean anything. It’s a product rather than something that moves emotion.”
Featured image: A needle hits the groove and vinyl brings music to life. Photo: ProtoplasmaKid/CC/Wikimedia Commons
