In the past two years the resurgence of vinyl has increased
sales of the moribund format exponentially to the point where it is now the
only aspect of the music industry increasing in sales, maximising profit and
continually reaching new people. What started out as a hipster fad has now gone
on to dominate music sales internationally as normative means of how people of
all ages buy their music, all over the world. The restoration of this superior
format to its former status has restored some sense of balance to the music
industry and leaves the future of the industry completely unpredictable. Will
this simply be a passing phase, or is vinyl here to stay?
I personally have always bought music physically and always
will do, my love affair with music started at a very young age and the ritual
of desiring music, to attaining it was where the satisfaction lay. Digital
music never appealed to me as it simply isn’t the genuine article. I like to
buy my music not rent it. I like to be able to hold something tangible in my
hands, devour its artwork and share a connection to it that feels so personal
that no one else could possibly be experiencing the same thing.
I was turned on to vinyl recently, amidst the resurgence the
format is currently experiencing. Is my love of vinyl genuine? Or am I just
another victim of a hipster trend? Yet more idealism dogmatically sent my way
through every media outlet. Probably; but I like to think however my come to
finding of vinyl came to be, that my passion for the medium and my
understanding of its sanctity is such that how I feel is irrelevant to how it
stands amongst hipsters or yuppies as I have no encounters with such people,
all I know is that every hour of everyday, my life, since I was twelve, has
revolved around music: listening to it, discovering it, obsessing over it,
writing about it and immersing myself in it. That hasn’t changed and with
making the switch to vinyl, all I have found is that sense of connection
strengthened by the tangible nature of the most physical and authentic music
medium.
It doesn’t matter how good things come to be popular as long
as they do. The resurgence of vinyl may have started as a niche hipster fad,
but that is a teardrop in an ocean, for the source of that transition comes
from a generation of dissatisfaction and a culture bereft of a tangle spiritual
aspect to their lives. Impoverished of such a relationship, people will, in
time find their way back to somehow expressing and fulfilling that imperative
human desire to share something real and unique. This spiritual pang has been
present since the vinyl vanished in the mid-nineties, and it has been dormant,
waiting for that perfect moment when culture and the will of the people
intersect.
If it wasn’t for Jack White I wouldn’t be writing this right
now. If not for he, I do not believe the vinyl would in anyway be dominating
music sales the way it is in 2015. His contribution to the preservation of
vinyl is unrivalled and his passion and sincerity in his love for the medium
has made such an impact on me that I am now completely dedicated to it. For
these reasons: Unlike other forms of listening to music, vinyl dictates an
active participation from the listener. We are subservient to it, there is a
ritual of getting the record off the shelf, dusting it off, putting it on the
turntable and putting that needle down. It requires effort. Once the music
begins to play, you are often physically on your knees, worshipping at its
altar, and the sanctity of music, art and the recorded sound is therefore
amplified, literally, into your life. The physicality of the mechanics and the
moving of the record, the cracking of the record and imperfections that remain,
create such an authentic and real experience that it is impossible not to form
a lasting, meaningful experience with the record, as you have shared something
personal and tangible with it.
We all know that watching a film on your iPhone or streaming
a movie online is not the right way it should be seen, we feel fraudulent and
guilty doing so, like we have just eaten half a delicious meal. The cinema is
where you watch a film, and only there with the correct rituals and
paraphernalia do we feel satisfied in our experience. There is no such explicit
ritual dictated in these terms for
music, so we are left with a generation that are growing up entitled to music
as a free commodity, that music needn’t be purchased, that it is a right.
Streaming services and iTunes have all but killed an entire generations
understanding of the sanctity of music and hardship of creating the art form,
that it is inevitable that the music industry will die. Yet it will not, and it
cannot for music is vital for all our lives in so many ways. Music makes us
and saves us time and time again and the infrastructure of its distribution
will merely meander with the changes of each generation like a water, it will
find its way back to the source.
The reason vinyl has come back to the forefront of music
again is because it is and always has been the superior format. It has never
been bested. It dipped in popularity throughout the nineties and noughties due
to the trend in CD sales, yet it cannot die because it is the original and
only tangible way to experience something real. The sheer size of a 12” record
demands your reverence and the artwork and gatefold have such an incredible
allure over the buyer, it looks and is purposeful, elegant and beautiful. The
science behind the creation of vinyl is so mind-bending it only demands your
reverence more. This is such primordial technology, yet it has never been
bested, it's over a hundred years old yet still digital technology cannot
emulate and simulate the same experience. Because you cannot simulate experience
and that is what vinyl is, real, tangible, beautiful, spiritual, and immortal.
I don’t know if vinyl sales will continue to dominate the 21st
century, they may not do, it is impossible to ignore the power and hold digital
music has over younger generations lives, it is undoubtedly more convenient and
more affordable than music has ever been before, so I'm certain that streaming
services are the future. Yet I am optimistic that the two will exist together,
symbiotically, and that vinyl will secure its place as a superior music format,
for real fans and appreciators of good music. No matter what happens, it is
life affirming to see that physical music isn’t dead yet, and that there is
still hope for a tangible life experience in an otherwise entirely digital generation.
