Vinyl endures

From vinyl to cassette to CD to digital, music formatting has come a long way.  Each advance has certainly changed the way we use and listen to music, and each has contributed something to the medium, but it doesn’t mean that each advance has necessarily been an improvement, or that older forms have been rendered irrelevant.  Although they seem like ancient relics compared to new technologies, vinyl records have not lost any of their cool.  Just like a 1960 Cadillac is never out of style, vinyl still has a firm claim on cool, even now in the 21^st century.  What is it that makes this dated technology so timeless?

First and foremost among reasons that vinyl has remained so magnificent is the sound quality.  The sound of a vinyl record cannot be matched by any newer technology.  The jumps and crackles lend such a pure authenticity to music, especially as compared to over-produced studio music that sounds listless and lifeless.  A flawless recording has no spirit, but vinyl is raw and real.  It is interesting to note that some digital music players have an option to add those rough vinyl sounds to digital music.  Of course, these digital attempts do not produce the same quality as the real deal, but it does go to show that raw sound quality is something lacking in CDs and mp3s, and that this has not gone unnoticed by music producers.

If you are not convinced on the grounds of sound quality alone, don’t forget about the physical aspect.  A vinyl collection is a tangible treasure hoard.  Each record is lovingly tucked into its sleeve, carefully organized amongst its fellow records.  You know each disc, its grooves, and the weight of it between your finger tips.  There is something visceral about vinyl, a connection that doesn’t exist with a shiny CD or an intangible mp3.  Having a physical attachment to a favorite album is nothing to scoff at.  It is the same as the difference between your beloved, beat up old copy of Charlotte’s Web, and reading the same text on an impersonal, glaring white computer screen.

The physical aspect is not just about emotion, it is also about the appearance and presentation of an album.  Those big, square covers have lots of room for great artwork, which you come to associate with the music itself.  And there are the gimmicks. – do you remember the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers album?  Designed by Andy Warhol, the cover features a picture of a man’s crotch in tight jeans, and had a real, metal zipper that could be pulled down to reveal cotton briefs.  That sort of thing is simply not possible in other forms of music.  The Sticky Fingers CD was released with the same image, but the zipper is reduced to part of the photograph, and the whole physical appeal is absent.

One further aspect related to the physical is the actual act of shopping for records.  When shopping for records you tend to find yourself among like-minded people who also grasp the coolness of vinyl.  You might head out to used stores, flea markets, or garage sales, and there you browse through piles of records, looking for the one that will brighten your day.  Sometimes you find unexpected gems forgotten in these dusty bins, other times you buy something on a whim and end up discovering a great band or album that you didn’t know before.  When you buy music online, you go straight to what you were searching for, pay money for something you can’t see, and don’t have the opportunity to make those leisurely meanderings that result in so many great finds in record stores.  There is something deeply satisfying about the search and discovery process of shopping for vinyl.

There is another subtle feature of vinyl that makes it so classic and cool in the face of digital music.  It is the fact that a vinyl record is a complete album, recorded just as a band planned.  The tracks are presented in an intentional order, and the album as a whole represents a significant period in that band’s career.  Much of this is lost with modern music formatting.  People tend to know hit singles and download just these individual songs.  Listeners are less familiar with entire albums, and thus their understanding of the evolution and growth of any band is limited.  The shuffle feature on iPod is the epitome of this loss – one song follows another with absolutely no relation, no plan.  Artists, eras, genres are a chaotic mess of random play.  In contrast, an album is premeditated; there is harmony and purpose in the flow, and vinyl records perfectly capture this intention.

We are not here to say that vinyl doesn’t have its drawbacks.  The players are not portable, so you can’t listen just anywhere.  The discs are fragile, prone to scratches and easy to break.  They take up way more space than cassettes or CDs, and obviously more than non-physical digital music.  Yet it is these qualities that add to the timeless charm and appeal of records.  The fact that they aren’t portable means that listening to records is more of an event, a personal moment in your home.  The fragility is also what gives vinyl its powerful, raw sound.  And the fact that they are physical and take up space is what allows us to become attached to them, to know and love each one like a dear friend.

Music is too important to take for granted.  When you sit down and listen to vinyl, you are experiencing the music, rather than being an accidental eavesdropper.  You have a connection to the music, both emotional and corporeal, and you listen to an album from start to finish.  Technology marches on and we will never go back to just vinyl records, but the march of progress will has not stamped out the enduring popularity of vinyl.  In fact, the contrasts just go to show why vinyl is and always will be so cool.

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