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A Matter of Record (part 4): “It’s Back”
There are but a few home electronic devices and appliances that have survived nearly 100 years from the time they were first invented.
The telephone, invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, and radio, invented by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895, are two of the most significant inventions that continue to be as vital in the 21st century as they were throughout most of the 20th century. Both have not been adversely affected to any significant degree by the major technological changes that have occurred, particularly within the past 20 years.
Telephones are still essential, despite email, and radio remains a very powerful instrument, despite television and the internet. Radio personalities Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern and Don Imus are, unquestionably, three of the most influential people in the US today.
Television, credited to John Logie Baird in 1926, continues to be the most powerful medium ever invented, but faces growing competition from the internet, as TV's overall viewing audience keeps declining worldwide.
For example, a recent poll showed that Canadians in the 18 to 34 age group spend an average of 14.7 hours a week online and 11.7 hours listening to radio. Television, surprisingly, comes in third, with 11.6 hours of average weekly viewing.
Film, "developed" (get it, ha-ha) by George Eastman in 1888, still endures, but is facing significant competition from digital cameras. Kodak has laid off thousands, and even Fuji Film has seen its film business decline significantly. Cutbacks have included dropping the sponsorship of the recent US Tennis Open this past August. I know this firsthand: as a Fuji distributor I would get to go as Fuji’s guest and sit in the company’s luxury suite every year. (Damn, how I hate that digital photography!)
The phonograph and gramophone, invented by Thomas Edison in 1880 (Part 1) and Emil Berliner 1895 (Part 2) respectively, have also been severely impacted by the digital revolution of the past 20 years.
CDs, MP3s, DVDs, iPods and hard drives have all but vanquished the vinyl record... but not totally.
Many of you probably think the vinyl record is as extinct as the dinosaur, a relic of an era in this country that is “gone with the wind.” But, as I mentioned in Part 3, reports of the death of the record have been “an exaggeration."
While the iPod and MP3 formats continue to grow, compact discs (CDs) still make up about 90% of pre-recorded music sales. Vinyl records haven’t entirely gone away and still account for a small but rebounding percentage of total music sales each year.
According to the British Phonographic Industry, annual sales of vinyl singles are now approaching 1.4 million units. In the twelve months up to March 31 of this year, sales of the 7” record hit the 1.38 million mark. This represented a year-on-year improvement of 64%, and the best 12 months for vinyl since 1998, the industry report noted.
On a qualitative front, the allure of vinyl is something missing in today’s digital world. After all, you can see the grooves of a record, but not the "ones and zeros" on a hard drive. What’s ”sexier": a shiny black record spinning on a turntable, or a passive iPod lying in the palm of your hand?
But more importantly, when the vinyl record was the primary means of storing recorded music, piracy was the exception, but today, with digital technology—it is the rule.
Each year, the music industry worldwide loses about $4.2 billion to piracy and file swapping. According to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), 85% of recordings released don’t even generate enough revenue to cover their costs. Perhaps none of us shed any tears for the major record labels, but consumers also lose, because the losses drive up the costs of legitimate product; retailers lose; and, perhaps most significantly, the artists lose, for musicians, singers, songwriters and producers don’t get the royalties and fees they’re entitled to.
Perhaps recognizing this, major artists are releasing more and more of their music on vinyl. According to Carl Rowatti, President of Trutone Mastering Labs—a leading New York City mastering studio that specializes in cutting records—artists like Madonna, Hall and Oates, James Brown, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston and Stryper, among others, are releasing limited edition, promotional vinyl for select titles, while many independent labels still use vinyl to promote new acts at the club level.
Utilizing classic analog disc-cutting equipment, which includes the Neumann disk-cutting lathe, Fairchild limiters and Pultec equalizers, Trutone's engineers target famous DJs and “turntablists” who perform (or compete) internationally. Die-hard dance, house, hip hop, trance and techno fans dance wildly as DJs perform stylized, intricate scratching, mixing and special effects on trendy dual-turntable systems, often commanding upwards of $10,000 to $20,000 per performance. Now try doing all that with a CD!
Finally, now that the weather is getting cool and the holiday season will soon be upon us, here is a great gift idea to consider, boys and girls.
A company here in NJ still makes "affordable" turntables that start at a "mere" $1,650 and climb to a "modest" $10,300. If you'd like to add on a cartridge as well, you can buy a top-of-the-line one for "only" $4,000.00! To ensure delivery of your new turntable for the holidays, you need to get that order in soon. There is a 4 to 6 week back log!
Quite a "bargain," huh? Well, what did you expect from a format that’s supposed to be ”dead”?
The telephone, invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, and radio, invented by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895, are two of the most significant inventions that continue to be as vital in the 21st century as they were throughout most of the 20th century. Both have not been adversely affected to any significant degree by the major technological changes that have occurred, particularly within the past 20 years.
Telephones are still essential, despite email, and radio remains a very powerful instrument, despite television and the internet. Radio personalities Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern and Don Imus are, unquestionably, three of the most influential people in the US today.
Television, credited to John Logie Baird in 1926, continues to be the most powerful medium ever invented, but faces growing competition from the internet, as TV's overall viewing audience keeps declining worldwide.
For example, a recent poll showed that Canadians in the 18 to 34 age group spend an average of 14.7 hours a week online and 11.7 hours listening to radio. Television, surprisingly, comes in third, with 11.6 hours of average weekly viewing.
Film, "developed" (get it, ha-ha) by George Eastman in 1888, still endures, but is facing significant competition from digital cameras. Kodak has laid off thousands, and even Fuji Film has seen its film business decline significantly. Cutbacks have included dropping the sponsorship of the recent US Tennis Open this past August. I know this firsthand: as a Fuji distributor I would get to go as Fuji’s guest and sit in the company’s luxury suite every year. (Damn, how I hate that digital photography!)
The phonograph and gramophone, invented by Thomas Edison in 1880 (Part 1) and Emil Berliner 1895 (Part 2) respectively, have also been severely impacted by the digital revolution of the past 20 years.
CDs, MP3s, DVDs, iPods and hard drives have all but vanquished the vinyl record... but not totally.
Many of you probably think the vinyl record is as extinct as the dinosaur, a relic of an era in this country that is “gone with the wind.” But, as I mentioned in Part 3, reports of the death of the record have been “an exaggeration."
While the iPod and MP3 formats continue to grow, compact discs (CDs) still make up about 90% of pre-recorded music sales. Vinyl records haven’t entirely gone away and still account for a small but rebounding percentage of total music sales each year.
According to the British Phonographic Industry, annual sales of vinyl singles are now approaching 1.4 million units. In the twelve months up to March 31 of this year, sales of the 7” record hit the 1.38 million mark. This represented a year-on-year improvement of 64%, and the best 12 months for vinyl since 1998, the industry report noted.
On a qualitative front, the allure of vinyl is something missing in today’s digital world. After all, you can see the grooves of a record, but not the "ones and zeros" on a hard drive. What’s ”sexier": a shiny black record spinning on a turntable, or a passive iPod lying in the palm of your hand?
But more importantly, when the vinyl record was the primary means of storing recorded music, piracy was the exception, but today, with digital technology—it is the rule.
Each year, the music industry worldwide loses about $4.2 billion to piracy and file swapping. According to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), 85% of recordings released don’t even generate enough revenue to cover their costs. Perhaps none of us shed any tears for the major record labels, but consumers also lose, because the losses drive up the costs of legitimate product; retailers lose; and, perhaps most significantly, the artists lose, for musicians, singers, songwriters and producers don’t get the royalties and fees they’re entitled to.
Perhaps recognizing this, major artists are releasing more and more of their music on vinyl. According to Carl Rowatti, President of Trutone Mastering Labs—a leading New York City mastering studio that specializes in cutting records—artists like Madonna, Hall and Oates, James Brown, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston and Stryper, among others, are releasing limited edition, promotional vinyl for select titles, while many independent labels still use vinyl to promote new acts at the club level.
Utilizing classic analog disc-cutting equipment, which includes the Neumann disk-cutting lathe, Fairchild limiters and Pultec equalizers, Trutone's engineers target famous DJs and “turntablists” who perform (or compete) internationally. Die-hard dance, house, hip hop, trance and techno fans dance wildly as DJs perform stylized, intricate scratching, mixing and special effects on trendy dual-turntable systems, often commanding upwards of $10,000 to $20,000 per performance. Now try doing all that with a CD!
Finally, now that the weather is getting cool and the holiday season will soon be upon us, here is a great gift idea to consider, boys and girls.
A company here in NJ still makes "affordable" turntables that start at a "mere" $1,650 and climb to a "modest" $10,300. If you'd like to add on a cartridge as well, you can buy a top-of-the-line one for "only" $4,000.00! To ensure delivery of your new turntable for the holidays, you need to get that order in soon. There is a 4 to 6 week back log!
Quite a "bargain," huh? Well, what did you expect from a format that’s supposed to be ”dead”?
