Just Because Listening To Music Requires A Little Sense of Ritual
Marvin Chang at The Record Album (Brighton, UK)
The trend is always in reincarnation. Young people began to listen to vinyl, like in an era where it was too convenient to fight against it.
In the era of digital music, the vinyl record industry has miraculously recovered on a global scale. According to Nielsen Music, the sales of vinyl records in the United States in 2017 totaled 14.32 million, which continued to grow for the 12th consecutive year. The annual sales of vinyl in the UK was 4.1 million, setting a record for the past 26 years.
Global wides, there are more and more people who like vinyl records. Don't think that older people like to listen to vinyl, young people are becoming the main consumer. In Shanghai, the vinyl record store that lost money a few years ago is turning a profit, and there are more and more restaurants and cafes in the streets and lanes. More vinyl lovers buy and collect through the Internet. Vinyl records from all over the world.
People are increasingly pursuing sound quality
Few physical vinyl records stores in the city of Brighton. The Record Album just 30 yards from Brighton Station, it was recently described in Garth Cartwright’s new chronicle of the UK record shop, Going For a Song, as “as Europe’s foremost soundtrack shop”. The Record Album, which opened in 1948, sells all kinds of music from pop to classical but specialists in soundtracks, cinema and theatre. The Record Album’s owners, Keith Blackmore and David Chappell, both love music very much. In the store, there are roughly 12-14,000 vinyl records they have drawn from all over the world. Classical, jazz, rock and electronic are all available.
On April 23, I was the one lucky enough to had an interview with one of the owner, Mr. David Chappell, here is the interview below:
(M as Marvin, D as David)
M: Interviewing with David Chappell, we are going to ask him couple of questions.
M: Let’s start with introduce, tell us little bit about yourself and background?
D: Hi, I am David Chappell, and I am the director of The Record Album, two of us bought this store last year in 2018. My background isn’t really in retail, and not in music, it was in germanium, but we had the opportunity last year to buy this record store. It’s the oldest record store in Brighton, it was run for more than 60 years by a lovely guy names George. He built the repatriation of the shop on film soundtracks, musicals, and we had continued that traditions and brought some more modern music. We buy and sell records here, people also brought in the second hands record to exchange for money. That’s where we are right now.
M: What was the motivations to taking over the store?
D: I think two motivations really. First, also the primary one was we felt that this is a very important store for Brighton, it was formed in 70 years ago, and it has specialty with the film soundtracks, we feel it would be shamed for Brighton to lost such shop. And second one was continue the tradition of film soundtracks. Films generally played big role in people’s lives, and soundtracks are big part of the films, they were even bigger back to the 1950s, 60s. And nowadays you got soundtracks from Black Panther and Bohemian Rhapsody, they are very important to people who likes them.
M: How many, roughly records you have in store?
D: We probably have between 12 to 14,000 records in the store, and that cross all type of music. Soundtracks, Jazz, Modern music from 1990s, back to 60s. We have different formats, mostly 12 inch long play albums but also 7 inches singles.
M: Are they organized alphabetically or do you have your own style?
D: Yes, most of them are organized alphabetically. But more importantly we group them in the genres, or by particular film soundtracks or composers.
M: What is the age ranges of the customers?
D: From 10 to 70, and interesting thing is more young people coming in to the store now. Vinyl has become increasingly popular in last 8 to 10 years.
M: That was exactly the topic I was going to bring in. Ever since the invention of CD or digital music, high tech and new way that people to listening music, it was damagingly effected sales of vinyls. But just last 10 years vinyl records has been revival to the market and becoming big again, how do you think about this?
D: The compact disc took over in the mid 80s, before that vinyl has always been the primary way to listen music. The interesting thing is, particularly with compact disc. In order to make a compact disc, it has to been compress…
M: …It shrank.
D: … Exactly, the sounds are different then, But here the most interesting fact is that the new vinyl of 21st century, it survived and actually re-made better version of vinyl records. It still remained the rich and deep sounds of the vinyl records of 70s and 80s.
M: I bet you listening to the records a lot?
D: Well we listening records all day in the shop, so we are lucky.
M: Do you have a favorite album?
D: I do, I like 60s and 70s music very much. Rather than favorite, I am trying to listening different type of music since began working in the shop, music that perhaps I haven’t got chance to listen to in the past.
M: If you ever going to design your own album cover for whatever music type you’ve made for the record. How would you like to designing it?
D: Definitely not putting my face picture on it (laughing), and probably go for abstract arts. And inspired by the lyrics of the song in the album.
M: Comes to the last question, what would you like to say to people who hasn’t got chance to know much more about vinyls?
D: I’d say give it a try, you can get into the vinyl play very easily at nowadays. For a hundred pounds, you could possibly get a very decent record player. And once you got that, welcome to come to The Record Album for your very first sounds of record.
M: Thank you very much, Mr. Chappell
D: My pleasure
Classic replica becomes a sales champion
In the past year, the global vinyl sales volume has continued to rise, and the replica version of the classic record is very eye-catching. According to Billboard, seven of the top 10 vinyl records sold in the United States in 2017 were replicas of classic records, including Pinker Floyd’s 1973 Dark Side and Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" issued in 1982. The sales champion is the Beatles' "Sorrowful Heart Club of Sergeant Pepper", which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the release of the album and sold 72,000 copies throughout the year. Some critics have pointed out that such a situation is not conducive to the long-term development of the vinyl record industry. Record companies are trying to find more revenue from classic records, and there is no incentive to push newcomers.
Improve the vinyl rubber industry chain
Not many people who go to The Record Album to buy vinyl, maybe there is no record player at home, which is not surprising. Although there are quite a lot of vinyl enthusiasts in UK, many people who buy vinyl records may simply like the binding and art design of vinyl records. However, as entry-level record players become cheaper and cheaper, they can buy one for about $10 from Amazon, so more and more young people are starting to listen to vinyl at home. Vinyl is no longer a luxury cultural consumption. The way has become more and more popular.
In the United States, many retail stores that are not associated with music are selling vinyl records, such as supermarket Whole Foods, clothing store Urban Outfitters, bookstore Barnes & Noble, and vinyl records are getting more and more available. And there are more and more bars, restaurants and cafes with the theme of vinyl records. Vinyl records are increasingly becoming a trend symbol, a way of life.
After all, digital music is essentially a kind of fast-food consumption. Nowadays people are getting more and more pressure, and they are more and more yearning for a slow life. Listening to vinyl records can bring a sense of ritual. You need to find the record, put it on the record player, put on the stylus, and you must listen to it one by one. In this way, your rhythm will naturally slow down. The vinyl has a good healing effect, it has Temperature, this is the reason for the recovery of vinyl culture.
Therefore, the vinyl record has revival, perhaps just because listening to music requires a little sense of ritual.
May 2, 2019
