CDs In Decline, Vinyl Records On The Rise

Above, an original Thunderball soundtrack album from 1965. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

There is one trend in the music industry that I am pleased to see.

And that is the growth of vinyl records. The old analog records have been making a comeback for several years while CDs have been declining and music streaming has been growing.

Above, James Bond soundtrack 45 rpm singles. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Even in Japan, the growth of vinyl has prompted Tower Records in Tokyo's Shinjuku section to dedicate a floor to vinyl records.

News On Japan reported:

Tower Records opened Tower Vinyl on the 10th floor of its Shinjuku store on March 21. The space, once reserved for pop-up events, now houses 70,000 records, according to the company, with more than half being secondhand.

In the U.S., vinyl pressing companies are starting up (along with older pressing companies) and are struggling to meet the rising demand.

According to Arizona Public Media:

Last year, digital music hit a milestone. For the first time ever, it accounted for more than half of global music sales. Music streaming revenues rose more than 40 percent, while sales of physical recordings continued to sink. 

Yet a company in Northern Virginia has just started pressing vinyl records. 

Tucked away in an industrial park in Alexandria, Furnace Record Pressing is the country’s newest record manufacturing facility — and a seemingly batty business idea, if you haven’t paid attention to deeper trends in the music industry lately. 

Despite the overall downturn in physical recordings like CDs, vinyl sales have been on the rise for a decade now, as younger people have begun to discover the richer sound and collectable nature of old-fashioned records. But as the vinyl frenzy caught on, soaring demand quickly created a problem, says Furnace’s owner, Eric Astor. The world’s remaining pressing facilities couldn’t keep up with the crush of new business.

 To read more, go here.

A Revelation

Above, the Crosley and the CD player. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A few years ago, I bought a little Crosley "suitcase" turntable so I can play my vinyl LPs and 45s. I like it except that the volume at maximum is a bit too low.

I have a Fisher stereo system that has a turntable and cassette deck, but the turntable belt needs replacing. I was about to get a new belt when my former apartment in Tarzana had two (at the same time) pipe breaks and the water that gushed out ruined the speakers to the Fisher set. So, now the set sits in the garage.

I bought a CD player for the den/guest room. Last week, I was going through a moving box and found some plug/wires for stereo systems. I decided to see if the Crosley turntable can be played through the CD player's auxiliary port. Sure enough, it worked and the sound from the Crosley now blares out of the the CD player's speakers. I can enjoy my vinyl records again!

For the past several days, I have been playing my old albums (Jethro Tull, Waylon Jennings, Buffalo Springfield, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Poco, movie soundtracks and others) that I haven't played in years.

Having the sound come through new speakers was a revelation. I missed the rich, warm sound of vinyl. I have to agree with Neil Young, analog vinyl sounds much better than digital CDs.

Thankfully, vinyl has made a comeback in recent years, so there's plenty out there to buy.

Currently, I am debating on either getting the belt replaced on the Fisher and get new speakers for it or just buy a whole new set that includes a cassette deck (I have a lot of cassette tapes).

In the meantime, I'll just enjoy my old records with what I have.

Checking Voice Mail Pays Off (Sometimes)

Sometimes it's worth it to immediately listen to one's voice mail messages.

I received a voice mail message this morning and it turned out to be potential business for the insurance claims adjusting company I work for, Crittenen Claim Services. I immediately responded and passed the information to the boss.

She negotiated getting some business out of them. I was originally going to handle the initial assignment (getting statements from four drivers involved in an accident). The only fly in the ointment was that the company (based in Dallas, Texas) requires digital recordings.

Thinking I should have this minor "problem" licked, I went to the local Radio Shack for digital telephonic recording equipment (I currently have analog telephonic recording equipment). $80 later, I found the equipment was not compatible with my phone set-up. I returned the stuff to Radio Shack. Oh, well.

Fortunately, the boss has digital recording equipment and is able to handle the work.

At least I got some business for the boss and received a new claim assignment today. Saturday morning, I head out to Acton to handle it.