How Vinyl Got Its Groove Back

CBS Evening News: In This Digital Age, Vinyl Records Are Making A Comeback

CBS Evening News
August 19, 2008
Harry Smith sitting in for Katie Couric.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/19/eveningnews/main4364986.shtml

Anthony Mason reporting:

(CBS) Sixteen-year-old David MacRunnel loves his record collection.

"I have approximately 1,200," he said.

They're all vinyl LPs. Scratch the iPod.

"You experience the music versus hearing the music," MacRunnel said.

For 18-year-old Lukas Glickman, LPs have become an obsession.

"I spend all my money on it. It's a problem," he said.

They're true believers in a vinyl revival. Yes, in this digital age, the LP is coming back from the dead, CBS News correspondent Anthony Mason reports.

The group REM released its latest album on vinyl. So did Bruce Springsteen with his album, "Magic." Madonna's "Hard Candy" came out on vinyl and Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" as well. A new LP costs about $20.

"It's a business decision. The major labels are doing it, because there's a lotta demand for it," said Matt Wishnow, president of Insound, an online indie music store.

Vinyl records now account for nearly half of Insound's sales.

"If you're a music fan and you want to have music 'stuff,' this is the most prized 'stuff' you can have in your music collection," Wishnow said.

The vinyl plastic LP was created in the 1940s.

But by the 1990s, CDs had made LPs all but obsolete.

Two years ago, only 850,000 vinyl albums were sold in the United States. This year that's expected to nearly double.

Record Technology, a California vinyl plant, has a nearly 4-month backlog of orders.

"Have you actually played your album on vinyl?" Mason asked Grammy-Award winning vocalist Shelby Lynne.

"Shoot, yeah!" she said.

Lynne was thrilled when her 10th album was her first to come out on vinyl.

"Because look how big that picture is!" she said. "It's just the whole thing. The touchin' it. The puttin' the needle down."

Wishnow calls it the avid music fan's response to the fleeting nature of the digital age.

"This is not a trend. This is going to be there for a long time," Wishnow said.

Believe it. Vinyl is groovy again.

© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Category:

Music

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• Mason
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• Insound
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• VinylDavid
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[skulzone]

My left ear got lonely... :(

[fredturd]

@skulzone You can thank YouTube for your left ear being lonely.

[DEPARTMENTofPEACEusa]

CD's were FORCED on the public. Vinyl was fazed out by the industry , leaving the music buyer no choice of format.

[UHaveAgreatDay]

What is with the phony static added @0:11 (before the needle meets the record)?

This reinforces the belief that all vinyl is noisy. Sure, a lot of it is noisy straight from the manufacturer, and made worse when you put your greasy fingers on the groves, and never properly clean your records. But is not true for a lot of records that were properly pressed and play quietly.

Clearly, the wealthy folks at CBS are clueless about hi-end turntables/tone-arms/cartridge­s, etc, and perpetuate this BS.

[Mortison77577]

@DEPARTMENTofPEACEusa

The reason why the consumers went for CDs is because sound quality is better and they're more convenient.

[mzondi1970]

To some of it never left. Anyone one else out there with the glen danzin misfits on LP? I do. I want adele on LP now

[blakiecakes419]

16 yr old with 1200 Lps?! Either he has the coolest parents on earth or His summer job pays a hell of alot better than mine did.

[olicool10videos]

@skulzone Use 240p for stereo.

[badmofostfu]

@DEPARTMENTofPEACEusa I heard they're getting rid of cds now too lol

[afrosheenix]

@DEPARTMENTofPEACEusa True, because vinyl is more expensive in every way than CD's and especially digital releases. Bandwidth for iTunes costs a fraction of a vinyl release. Packaging, shipping, photography, all of it adds up quick. CDs were meant to be disposable and the lossy compression used clips audio. It's so bad that producers have to employ engineering tricks to avoid the "digital wall" that CD audio creates.

[unopinionated]

SCRATCH LIVE 2:19 YEWWWW

[unopinionated]

@DEPARTMENTofPEACEusa just like analogue TV

[morrismagic08]

@DEPARTMENTofPEACEusa Your right. The same can be said for digital TV broadcasting.

[JeDaaRe1]

Vinyl Rocks.