HMV

We are buying more vinyl records than ever. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, vinyl sales have doubled in percentage of music sales since 2000. Last year in the UK record sales topped 1,072,608, compared to a poor 178,831 in 2001. The last White Stripes single, “The Denial Twist”, reaced #10 in the charts due to 10″ sales.

People who don’t even have record players, are seeking out 7-inches of their favourite bands, purchasing them as collectible tactile trophies that visually contain the treasured music. Music Labels are reporting that c.d. sales are down to such an extent that they plan to release two 7-inch singles for every one cd single made, especially in the case of new bands,

“If you put out a James Blunt 7in, no one’s interested – but if you put out something by a new group, where the artwork and packaging represent them stylistically, it’s a different story.”
Khalid Mallassi, co-director of the Brighton-based independent Catskills Records, from The Telegraph

“Its just the idea of the cd. Now it seems very outdated… and tacky.”
Kate Malkin

In a time of ‘invisible’ media where music is ready and available at the click from the itunes music store, or a few hours from a torrent, the vinyl record rebels against this with its very visible and analogue behaviour. A record player is very honest and open. The record is out in full view, and physically moves round and round as the music plays. A user may press a switch to automatically play the record, or, more often, manually place the play-head upon the record. And of course there is the size of the record, and the size of the artwork that the record is packaged in. The whole package is a very ordinary and yet beautiful object that, I find makes the playing of the music all the more rewarding and the listening all the more pleasureable.

The history of the record shows the circular disc as a symbol of rebellion:

“During the reign of the Communist Party in the former USSR, records were commonly homemade using discarded medical x-rays. These records, nicknamed “Bones”, were usually inscribed with illegal copies of popular music banned by the government. They also became a popular means of distribution among Soviet punk bands; in addition to the high cost and low availability of vinyl, punk music was politically surpressed, and publishing outlets were limited.”
Wiki

And so in this time where the ‘ownership’ of music is being challenged by the internet and global sharing, it is quite fitting that the black circular slab, first born in 1888, that pioneered the music industry, should continue to thrive in the digital age, where other formats are failing.