Bring Back Vinyl!

• 24th May 2010

The way we purchase music has changed considerably over the years.

Now, I’m not old enough to go back to the days of 78s and eight tracks, but I did grow up buying records. As in vinyl records. Seven inch singles and twelve inch albums. Even special limited edition releases on coloured vinyl or picture disks.

And they might just be making a comeback too.

The invention of the Compact Disc, or CD as we know them, changed music in the 1980s. The sound quality was better, we were told, and CDs lasted longer too. With no chance of being scratched by a needle they would also retain their quality for ever, we were assured.

CDs are now on the way out. Modern music fans don’t want that trip to the store. They want to download music straight onto the PC. It’s part of the whole instant gratification thing that is so common now.

And the younger generation wants to pick and choose too. They don’t want whole albums but would rather download specific tracks for their phone, iPod or other portable music player.

But I hear that there is something of a retro revival on vinyl in the US these days. And we all know that the UK usually follows American trends sooner or later.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if record shops were still around? Not the biggies like HMV but the little independent stores where you could spend hours browsing. Where the staff knew music and could recommend bands you had never heard of. And where you could walk out with that all important new record in a shiny new plastic bag.

I loved buying records. It was so much more satisfying that unwrapping a CD or downloading a few tracks onto the PC.

A new record was a real experience. The rush home to play your new purchase. The cover art, the linear notes, the great smell of a fresh piece of vinyl. I have a couple of hundred of these wonderful items, and I can still remember exactly where and when I bought so many of them. Wonderful memories!

I say bring back vinyl.

Who wants to join my campaign?