1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,319 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey there, 2 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. 3 00:00:16,239 --> 00:00:19,920 Speaker 1: I'm an executive producer with iHeartRadio and how the tech 4 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:22,759 Speaker 1: are you? So Originally I was going to do a 5 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,079 Speaker 1: tech stuff tidbits today to talk about something I just 6 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: think is cool, which is really the history of vinyl 7 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: record sales here in the United States. But it quickly 8 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: grew beyond tidbits size. No big surprise there, y'all know me. 9 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 1: I'm a chatty kathy at the best of times. But 10 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,240 Speaker 1: I thought we could look at a technology that traces 11 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:52,200 Speaker 1: its history to really the nineteenth century, the late eighteen hundreds, 12 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: and then evolved and grew gradually until it became a 13 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: dominant technology that waned in the nineteen eighties, really hit 14 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: its lowest point in the two thousands, and then starting 15 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,479 Speaker 1: around two thousand and six and continuing for seventeen years, 16 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: has really made a comeback. So yeah, I am talking 17 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:19,839 Speaker 1: about the vinyl record baby. Now. I love vinyl records. 18 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: I have a very small collection of vinyl records myself. 19 00:01:24,319 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: I know people who have huge libraries of vinyl I 20 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:32,080 Speaker 1: am not that person. I would love to have a 21 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: huge library a vinyl but I just have a modest 22 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: collection couple one hundred records. Now, nothing in my collection 23 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: is rare, nothing is particularly special beyond the connection I 24 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: feel to the recording itself and the musical artists that 25 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: are represented. So it's really just my own small library 26 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: of records that I like to listen to on occasion. 27 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: And there is a ritual to listening to a vinyl 28 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: record because there's so many steps that are involved, physical 29 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: steps that you must take to listen to vinyl records. 30 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: And I truly believe that it's a combination of the 31 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: technology and the steps you have to take to use 32 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: that technology that create a very special situation that enhances 33 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: our connection to the music that's recorded on that medium. Now, 34 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:28,120 Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, I am not one of the 35 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: true believer audio files out there who swears that a 36 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: vinyl record produces better sound than say, high quality digital 37 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: recording you would get on like a compact disc. There 38 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: are too many factors involved to make that kind of 39 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:47,120 Speaker 1: sweeping declaration. There are those who will swear that analog 40 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: formats are just by themselves superior to digital formats. I 41 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: think it gets way more complicated than that. There's everything 42 00:02:57,360 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: from the quality of the recording master, of the type 43 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: of stylists that your tabletop uses, the kind of motor 44 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: setup that the turntable has that can all affect music 45 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: quality all on its own. And that's before you even 46 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:18,760 Speaker 1: get to stuff like pre amps, amplifiers, speakers, cables, etc. 47 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:25,520 Speaker 1: Plus hearing and listening that involves psychology, right, That involves 48 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 1: the gray matter in our noggins. So it's not just technology, 49 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: and that means that my experience is at least to 50 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: some degree unique to me, and that someone else who 51 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: is standing in the exact same spot where I stood 52 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: and listening to the exact same recording on the exact 53 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: same equipment is going to have a different experience than 54 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: I did. Now, it might not be vastly different, it 55 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: might not even be something that they can identify or communicate. 56 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: We might talk with each other and not find any differences. 57 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: But the fact is they're sperience will be at least 58 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: to some degree unique to them, and mine will be 59 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: unique to me. So it's just like west Lee said 60 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: in The Princess Bride, audio quality is subjective. Anyone who 61 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: says otherwise is selling something I might have paraphrased that, 62 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:20,480 Speaker 1: So I am not here to say the vinyl records 63 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: provide the superior acoustic experience. I don't believe they necessarily do. 64 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,600 Speaker 1: I think they can, depending upon all the other factors 65 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: that play here. But it's more complicated than just what 66 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: format is the music in? Is it in, you know, 67 00:04:38,200 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 1: analog versus digital? Is it on vinyl versus cassette versus 68 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 1: compact disc versus MP three. However, the activity of listening 69 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: on vinyl has other values beyond audio quality. So, for 70 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:56,040 Speaker 1: one thing, a long playing vinyl an LP or an 71 00:04:56,080 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 1: extended play vinyl EP. Those are big, you know. They 72 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,840 Speaker 1: can measure typically ten inches in diameter, that's twenty five centimeters, 73 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,920 Speaker 1: but they can be up to twelve inches that's thirty centimeters. 74 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: And that means these records, these discs of vinyl, have 75 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 1: to fit into a sleeve and then a cover that's 76 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: even larger than the disc is right, and this actually 77 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: gives artists a fairly large canvas to work with when 78 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,960 Speaker 1: it comes to designing album cover art, which for a 79 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: while ended up becinding kind of a forgotten art form. 80 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: So part of the ritual of listening to vinyls, specifically 81 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:40,520 Speaker 1: to LPs and EPs is admiring that cover art. Now, 82 00:05:40,560 --> 00:05:45,080 Speaker 1: some album cover art is, to put it, lightly bad. 83 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 1: Some of it is hilariously bad. So if you want 84 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: to laugh, you can do a Google image search for 85 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:58,000 Speaker 1: the album Gary Getting down to Business. It's Gary gaar Y. 86 00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 1: So it features Gary Solim on the cover, striking a 87 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 1: uh well, let's be kind. We'll call it a dramatic pose. 88 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:08,640 Speaker 1: And it most certainly is a product of the late 89 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,839 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, and viewed through the modern lens, it will 90 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: look funny to you. Maybe you would want to recreate 91 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: it ironically, and maybe eventually it would become unironic and 92 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,400 Speaker 1: that just becomes your thing. No judgment here. Maybe if 93 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: you're a Simpsons fan and you happen to love that 94 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: meme where Homer slowly walks backwards into some bushes in 95 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 1: order to disappear, you should look at the entree Amigos 96 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: by Camillo Sesto, because it sure does look like Camillo 97 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: served as the inspiration for that particular moment in the Simpsons. 98 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:47,600 Speaker 1: He's standing halfway engulfed in a hedge, and I mean, 99 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,359 Speaker 1: you look at it, and if you've ever seen that 100 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: Simpsons mean. You immediately think this must be where they 101 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:58,880 Speaker 1: got that image. Anyway, other album art can be amazing. 102 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,839 Speaker 1: You could get into like the beef cake and cheesecake 103 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: covers of Molly Hatchett albums because they look like an 104 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:10,720 Speaker 1: advertisement for like a cheeky Sword and Sorcery film or 105 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 1: a Dungeons and Dragons expansion set, or you know, something 106 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: like David Bowie's Aladdinsane album with the simple image of 107 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: David Bowie from the shoulders up with that lightning bolt 108 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: makeup decorating his face. The art becomes part of the experience. 109 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: It is augmenting what the entire album is about. But 110 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: beyond that, you've got the actual physical actions you have 111 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 1: to take. Right there is the action of removing the 112 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: record itself. So maybe you pull the sleeve out of 113 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: the cover and then you take the album out of 114 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: the sleeve. Maybe you're a rebel and you just try 115 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: to remove the album and leave the sleeve inside the cover. 116 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: Or maybe you're really living on the edge and you 117 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: lost the sleeve years ago and now you just put 118 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 1: a record directly into the unprotected cover. You do you, okay, 119 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: I mean, if you want to, if you want to 120 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: scratch up the vinyl. Oh okay, no, no, no, whatever you 121 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 1: do is fine. So you carry this vinyl long playing 122 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 1: album over to your turntable, and you gently place the 123 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: vinyl so that the whole lines up with the spindle 124 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 1: and settles down on the platform. You lift the tone 125 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: arm with the stylus on the end up. You position 126 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: that stylus at the outer edge of the LP. You 127 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: very softly and gently set it down, and you have 128 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,360 Speaker 1: it catch on the groove of the LP, and then 129 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: you prepare to listen to some music. Depending on the album, 130 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: you might be taken on a journey, one where the 131 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: artists carefully planned out that sequence of songs, the order 132 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:54,640 Speaker 1: of the tracks, specifically intending to inspire particular moods or reactions. 133 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: Maybe it's even a concept album that tells a story, 134 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,440 Speaker 1: either one that is overtly obvious or one that's just 135 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: merely hinted. At halfway through your journey, you have to 136 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,439 Speaker 1: pause because the needle has reached the center of the album, 137 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:13,360 Speaker 1: having followed a groove that spirals inward until it gets 138 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: to the end, and then you have to lift the 139 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: tone arm up, move it out of the way, flip 140 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: the vinyl record over, settle it back over onto the 141 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: spindle again, move the tone arm with the stylus to 142 00:09:23,760 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 1: the edge once more, and play side to and your 143 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: journey continues. It's like getting a little intermission in the 144 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: middle of a play. Of course, some albums include more 145 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:37,120 Speaker 1: than one disc, right. That means you're not really halfway 146 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,400 Speaker 1: through when the stylust gets to the center. Maybe you're 147 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: a quarter through or an eight through, so you'll be 148 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: doing this a few times if you plan to listen 149 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,439 Speaker 1: to this album all the way through. But it's all 150 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,600 Speaker 1: part of that ritual. Now, there's no rule saying that 151 00:09:51,679 --> 00:09:54,679 Speaker 1: you have to listen to an entire side of an 152 00:09:54,720 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: album start to finish, or even the full album start beginning. 153 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: There's no rule saying you have to do that. However, 154 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: it is a little more challenging to do something like 155 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: go to a specific track on the album if it's 156 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 1: not the first one on either side. You can do it, 157 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:14,760 Speaker 1: but it's not easy. There's also no easy way to 158 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: skip or to go back and listen to the same 159 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: track again. It's not convenient, and unless you have one 160 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:26,079 Speaker 1: of the very few models that experimented with the idea, 161 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: it's not portable either, So I think it's fair to 162 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,840 Speaker 1: say that vinyl doesn't lend itself to every type of 163 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: listening situation. It is not convenient, it is not portable, 164 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: it is not for every kind of listening environment, but 165 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: for a specific kind of listening it's fantastic at least 166 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: of the album's good. Now, I've done several episodes on 167 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: the history of recorded audio, so I'm not going to 168 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: repeat everything I've talked about before, but I do want 169 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: to give some context so that we understand why the 170 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: Vinyl albums are the way they are, because that experience 171 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 1: of sitting down to listen to a full album evolved 172 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: over time. It didn't just magically manifest. The actual medium 173 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:16,640 Speaker 1: would shape things like music and collections of music. For example, 174 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,839 Speaker 1: if you've ever wondered why most songs tend to be 175 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: between three to four minutes long, the restrictions of technology 176 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:28,079 Speaker 1: helped determine that. Now, songs were already kind of naturally 177 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 1: falling into that length that was just sort of a 178 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: comfortable length for a song to be, but the medium 179 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:36,680 Speaker 1: itself would create restrictions that meant that you really had 180 00:11:36,720 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: to conform to that length, and it kind of made 181 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,199 Speaker 1: it a standard. The medium is why artists would create 182 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: collections of songs to release at the same time, and 183 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:48,040 Speaker 1: why they typically do so in groups of ten or 184 00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: twelve songs, or if you're an artist like Meatloaf, six 185 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:55,559 Speaker 1: to eight songs, because your songs are all freakin' epics. Conversely, 186 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:59,560 Speaker 1: the Ramones first album had fourteen tracks, seven to a side. 187 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:01,760 Speaker 1: One of those tracks only lasted about a minute and 188 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: a half, so your mileage may vary. But the medium 189 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: shaped all of this and created the trends that we 190 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 1: see carried through to this day. I would say long 191 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,839 Speaker 1: after the medium itself had sort of faded away, we 192 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: saw those trends continued. However, I can't say that it 193 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:22,440 Speaker 1: faded away because, as I mentioned at the top of 194 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:26,079 Speaker 1: this episode, for the last seventeen years, it's been making 195 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:29,840 Speaker 1: a serious comeback, all right. So let's get into a 196 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:36,560 Speaker 1: pretty simple early history lesson of the LP in particular. So, 197 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:43,600 Speaker 1: the precursor to flat discs recorded discs were wax cylinders. 198 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:49,559 Speaker 1: There're also ten cylinders tin, but wax cylinders became kind 199 00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 1: of the standard. These could hold recorded audio, but they 200 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:56,480 Speaker 1: were not easy to store. The physical cylinders. You had 201 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:58,080 Speaker 1: to have like a box, and you had to be 202 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: very gentle with them. They all would wear out relatively 203 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: quickly because the wax would start to degrade. With each playback, 204 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:09,520 Speaker 1: the stylist being used would essentially be carving more into 205 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 1: the groove, so each successive playback would be a little 206 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:16,880 Speaker 1: worse than the one that came before it. In the 207 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: late nineteenth century, an inventor named Emil Berliner came up 208 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,199 Speaker 1: with the idea of recording audio to a flat disc 209 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,040 Speaker 1: as opposed to a cylinder, and he figured that if 210 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: he could devise a way to do that, it might 211 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: be possible to create a means of mass production, which 212 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: wasn't really possible with the cylinders of the time. See, 213 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: cylinders were using devices that could both record and playback audio. 214 00:13:41,400 --> 00:13:44,439 Speaker 1: But if you could create a way of just recording 215 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: audio to a blank, you know, a disc that has 216 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: nothing on it, you could do that much more quickly 217 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:55,600 Speaker 1: than you would recording in real time to a wax cylinder, 218 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: so that you could playback in real time later on. 219 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,320 Speaker 1: It would be something that would allow business to scale 220 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,520 Speaker 1: and become something more than just a curiosity for the wealthy. 221 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,440 Speaker 1: So he got to work his first version used a 222 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: disc made of zinc, coded in beeswax and gasoline, and 223 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: then put through an etching process where an acidic compound 224 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:20,000 Speaker 1: etched away at a groove that was made in the disc. 225 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 1: And I talk about this more in other shows that 226 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: go into the detail of the history of vinyl and 227 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: recorded audio, so I'm not gonna retread all of that. 228 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 1: But these discs could only record to one side at 229 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: first due to the process that Berliner was using at 230 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: the time, so there wasn't a double sighted album. He 231 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: received a patent for his invention in eighteen eighty seven. Now, 232 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: the zinc discs were not meant to be the final product. Instead, 233 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: these served as a master recording. So Berlenner would then 234 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 1: electroplate this disc to create a negative, so instead of 235 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,760 Speaker 1: there being grooves, you would get ridgids where the grooves 236 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: had been and the could be used as a stamp 237 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,800 Speaker 1: and you could use it to stamp blanks to imprint 238 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:09,520 Speaker 1: the grooves into the blanks. Now these blanks would need 239 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,440 Speaker 1: to be pliable for the stamping process, but then strong 240 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: enough to withstand playback. Initially, Berliner tried celluloid, which could 241 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: make a really good, you know recording, but it was 242 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: far too delicate and it would wear out very very quickly, 243 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:29,960 Speaker 1: so that was out. Uh, there were some celluloid records produced. 244 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,160 Speaker 1: There are a few that still exist, but celluloid itself 245 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,040 Speaker 1: is a very delicate material and it can rot over time, 246 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:42,600 Speaker 1: so there are very very few existing celluloid records today. Okay, 247 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,400 Speaker 1: we're just getting started. When we come back, i'll talk 248 00:15:45,440 --> 00:16:00,360 Speaker 1: more about the development of the record disc all right. Back, 249 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:04,080 Speaker 1: we left off with Berlinner working with celluloid and deciding 250 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: that was not a very good material to use for records. Next, 251 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 1: he tried hard rubber, and this would involve heating the 252 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: rubber blanks to temperature so that they became soft enough 253 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: to stamp, and at first he felt these were far 254 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: superior to celluloid because they could hold up to a 255 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: lot more abuse. They were almost unbreakable being made out 256 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: of hard rubber. But the trouble was quality controlled because 257 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: sometimes the stamps didn't leave a perfect imprint, so you 258 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: could end up with blank spots where there should be 259 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: a groove, and that meant that once the stylus hit 260 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:39,160 Speaker 1: the blank spot, it could just slide across the record, 261 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 1: and you know, it was no good it just wasn't 262 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: reliable enough to be able to produce en mass without 263 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,960 Speaker 1: lots of potential problems. So Berlinner's solution was to work 264 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 1: with a company called Duranoid, which made a shell ac 265 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: compound for coding electrical parts. Shell Ac is a resin 266 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:03,600 Speaker 1: and it comes from big so shell ack is actually 267 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:08,200 Speaker 1: it's extracted from the secretions made by a lack bug, 268 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: and it's used for all sorts of stuff like including 269 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:17,719 Speaker 1: glaze on candies and pills. It also has insulator properties, 270 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: so it made it great for coding electric components. You 271 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: could insulate that so that you're not going to get 272 00:17:23,040 --> 00:17:25,679 Speaker 1: shocked when you handle the things. And then there's the 273 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:27,960 Speaker 1: fact that it's really good at holding a shape, though 274 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,440 Speaker 1: it can be brittle. So Berlinner felt that the shellac 275 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:34,320 Speaker 1: coded records were superior to the hard rubber ones. The 276 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 1: stamping process was far more reliable, and so Berliner switched 277 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 1: to shellac by the late nineteenth century. Right before the 278 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 1: turn of the twentieth century, Berlinner and some investors were 279 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,360 Speaker 1: creating companies several over the years, all with the name 280 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: Gramophone incorporated in them. That was kind of the name 281 00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:55,639 Speaker 1: of Berliner's technology, but while the medium had evolved, the 282 00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,360 Speaker 1: equipment used to play the media was slower to change. 283 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: So early machines used hand cranked systems, so that meant 284 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: you had to sit there and you had to turn 285 00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: a crank in order to listen to your recorded album. 286 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:13,439 Speaker 1: The ideal sweet spot for speed would be to crank 287 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: at a speed fast enough to get seventy to eighty 288 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:20,639 Speaker 1: revolutions per minute, because that's where the recorded audio on 289 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: shell act discs sounded the best. But if you crank 290 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:26,280 Speaker 1: too quickly, you get chipmunks. If you crank too slowly, 291 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,960 Speaker 1: everyone becomes a basso profundo singer like Patrick Page in 292 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: Haities Town. And if you're unsteady then you get a 293 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: real warblee playback, and it wasn't ideal. So there's an 294 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 1: era of innovation then in creating a motorized turntable that 295 00:18:43,359 --> 00:18:45,879 Speaker 1: is both strong enough to work with the heavy tone 296 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: arms of the time, because back then the tone arms 297 00:18:48,720 --> 00:18:50,679 Speaker 1: put a lot of pressure on discs. That's why they 298 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:52,639 Speaker 1: would wear out so quickly if they weren't made of 299 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: durable material. And the stylus was made out of steel, 300 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: so you really did have to have something that could 301 00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: withstand some damage and some torture in order to be 302 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: a long lasting product. So the motorized movement need to 303 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:11,680 Speaker 1: be consistent and smooth and strong enough to provide good 304 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,040 Speaker 1: audio quality, and that took a while. Now, another thing 305 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: that helped shape both the medium itself and the music 306 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:21,879 Speaker 1: upon it was the rotational speed of these motors and 307 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,560 Speaker 1: the design of the albums themselves. So if you designed 308 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:29,000 Speaker 1: an album to be played at seventy eight rotations per minute, 309 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,720 Speaker 1: you would get superior sound quality, but the stylist would 310 00:19:32,720 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: travel the groove pretty quickly, right, because it's rotating seventy 311 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: eight times every single minute. So things would sound good, 312 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: but you could not store very much music per disc 313 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: side because the groove for a piece being played back 314 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,440 Speaker 1: at seventy eight rpm would have to be longer than 315 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:53,520 Speaker 1: one played at a slower speed. So if you designed 316 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 1: the disc so that the recording was meant to be 317 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: played back at a slower speed, like at forty five 318 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:01,440 Speaker 1: rotations per minute, or even thirty three and one third 319 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:05,640 Speaker 1: rotations per minute, you could store more audio on the 320 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,960 Speaker 1: side of a disc, but the quality of that audio 321 00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:11,680 Speaker 1: would suffer. So even in the days of hand cranking, 322 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:13,960 Speaker 1: like I said, the ideal rotational speed was somewhere in 323 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,159 Speaker 1: the seventy to eighty rpm range. So how did the 324 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: music industry settle on the standard speeds? Well, seventy eight 325 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:26,440 Speaker 1: rpm is very convenient when you start looking at things 326 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 1: like gear ratios. So the motors that they were using 327 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:33,359 Speaker 1: to drive the turntables had their own rotational speed thirty 328 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:37,760 Speaker 1: six hundred revolutions per minute. So by using a gear 329 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,720 Speaker 1: system you could create a gear ratio of say forty 330 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,200 Speaker 1: six to one and forty six to one ratio gear 331 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: would convert that thirty six hundred revolutions per minute down 332 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: to seventy eight technically seventy eight point twenty six. So 333 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:57,040 Speaker 1: the turntable speed was set largely because of the actual 334 00:20:57,080 --> 00:20:59,920 Speaker 1: limitations of the motor, the fact that it was an 335 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 1: thirty six hundred revolutions per minute, and you know, creating 336 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:06,200 Speaker 1: a ratio that would allow you to step that down 337 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:10,160 Speaker 1: to a more manageable speed for the turntable itself meant 338 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: that you could go down to seventy eight, which again 339 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: was in that sweet spot between seventy and eighty rpm. 340 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: So sort of the stars aligned for this particular type 341 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: of implementation, but other gear ratios could produce the speeds 342 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: of forty five rpm or thirty three and a third 343 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,159 Speaker 1: rpm without having to change the type of motor that 344 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,640 Speaker 1: you were using to drive the whole darn thing. Now 345 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 1: these days, you could have had a variable speed motor 346 00:21:35,880 --> 00:21:41,440 Speaker 1: and you could completely change the technology of pressed records entirely. 347 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,679 Speaker 1: But now it's kind of a legacy system, so no 348 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: one has really bothered. A couple people have tried, but 349 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:53,280 Speaker 1: only small experiments. So the speed of the motor sort 350 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: of determined everything else. So seventy eight rpm became the 351 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,400 Speaker 1: preferred format for early records, and even with a ten 352 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: inch disc, that meant you could store about three minutes 353 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: of audio per side. And again, while many songs already 354 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:10,240 Speaker 1: fell into that length restriction, the medium really helped cement 355 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:13,679 Speaker 1: it as the standard song length. It was a limit 356 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: of the medium. So if you wanted to sell a 357 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:18,760 Speaker 1: lot of records and have people go gaga over your music, 358 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 1: you really wanted it to be high quality stuff, and 359 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: you know, not sacrifice the sound quality the fidelity of 360 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:29,880 Speaker 1: your recording, but you would sacrifice how long your track 361 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:32,840 Speaker 1: could be because you were limited to about three minutes. 362 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 1: And think about that, these ten inch discs were singles. 363 00:22:37,240 --> 00:22:40,240 Speaker 1: They could usually hold a single track per side, which 364 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:44,360 Speaker 1: is pretty big disc to hold one song is pretty wild, 365 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:47,880 Speaker 1: and it would dominate for decades, well into the nineteen fifties. 366 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:50,399 Speaker 1: So now we're going to do a quick jump ahead. 367 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:53,159 Speaker 1: So others at the time of Berliner were trying to 368 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,600 Speaker 1: come up with alternatives because they wanted to get into 369 00:22:55,640 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: this market, but they didn't want to have to pay 370 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:01,920 Speaker 1: Berliner for his technology. So like Edison was one of those, 371 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,240 Speaker 1: and they were trying to come up with alternatives to 372 00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: shell Act too and really to compete with the Gramophone Company. 373 00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: But the alternatives were often more expensive, so they had 374 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:16,280 Speaker 1: very little effect in breaking into the market. People didn't 375 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: want to have to buy new equipment and spend even 376 00:23:18,800 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 1: more money to purchase the albums themselves. So even as 377 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: early as the nineteen twenties you had people experimenting with 378 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: plastic and by the nineteen thirties the technology was ready 379 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:35,120 Speaker 1: to go in some early implementations, but there were some problems. 380 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:39,680 Speaker 1: One was that companies were making boneheaded mistakes, but another 381 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,760 Speaker 1: was just that the economy in general was not good. 382 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: Just like today, we were in a really bad time 383 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:50,600 Speaker 1: of economic uncertainty. In the nineteen thirties, the US was 384 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: in the Great Depression and the cost of a record player, 385 00:23:53,640 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: and then on top of that the cost of records 386 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: to play on the record player. That was a luxury 387 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,359 Speaker 1: that very few were willing to pursue. A radio set, 388 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: while also being very expensive, at least had the advantage 389 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 1: of providing the content for free, well sort of free, 390 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:12,640 Speaker 1: like my show, the content was sponsored by companies paying 391 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,920 Speaker 1: to have their products and services highlighted on the air, 392 00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 1: so not really free, but free to the consumer. The 393 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:22,479 Speaker 1: plastic records were still a thing behind the scenes, however, 394 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,640 Speaker 1: DJs at radio stations were using them, but there wasn't 395 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 1: much of a consumer market for vinyl or plastic records 396 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: until the end of World War two. Partly that was 397 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: because the war had put high demands on various materials 398 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:40,080 Speaker 1: and manufacturing facilities, which prioritized war efforts over stuff like, 399 00:24:40,119 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: you know, civilian comforts and luxuries, which is understandable. But 400 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:48,120 Speaker 1: after the war things would change. In nineteen forty eight, 401 00:24:48,160 --> 00:24:52,439 Speaker 1: an invention from doctor Peter Goldmark would make a huge 402 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 1: impact on the recording industry. So Goldmark devised a way 403 00:24:56,400 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: to create microgrooves on vinyl, a type of of PVC plastic, 404 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:05,880 Speaker 1: and these microgrooves allowed for a couple of really big advantages. 405 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:10,080 Speaker 1: It was possible to create long playing or LP albums, 406 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: and you could reduce the rotational speed to thirty three 407 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: and one third rotations per minute without an appreciable dip 408 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: in audio quality. So that meant that a disc could 409 00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: hold way more than three to five minutes per side. 410 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,320 Speaker 1: Now it could hold more than twenty minutes per side, 411 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: So you could put way more content on a single disc, 412 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:35,880 Speaker 1: particularly a twelve inch disc, than you could in the past. Now, 413 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:39,399 Speaker 1: RCA Victor, which had attempted to introduce the thirty three 414 00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:43,560 Speaker 1: and a third album more than a decade earlier that 415 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,320 Speaker 1: when I was talking about there being companies that made 416 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:49,920 Speaker 1: boneheaded decisions, I was referencing RCA Victor at the time. 417 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: It was a massive flop when they tried to introduce 418 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: it in the thirties. They decided in the late forties 419 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: to challenge gold Mark and Columbia Records, which was the 420 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:03,720 Speaker 1: comp that was making use of Goldmark's technology. So RCA 421 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:08,119 Speaker 1: introduced the seven inch record disc, designed to be played 422 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:12,000 Speaker 1: at forty five revolutions per minute, so the forty five 423 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:15,360 Speaker 1: can hold about as much music as the seventy eight 424 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,040 Speaker 1: ten inch discs could with the same level of fidelity, 425 00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: so they were arguing you're giving the maximum fidelity performance 426 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: at a smaller form factor, so it's more convenient, which 427 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:32,640 Speaker 1: was debatable. Both of those were debatable, but these two 428 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:35,720 Speaker 1: form factors, the thirty three and a third LP and 429 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: the forty five seven inch disc were incompatible with one another, 430 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:44,399 Speaker 1: so obviously they required different speeds rotational speeds to play 431 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: back the music appropriately, although if you've ever played a 432 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,760 Speaker 1: thirty three and a third record on the forty five 433 00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: setting or vice versa, you can get some pretty fun 434 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,200 Speaker 1: experiences out of that, like you can you can turn 435 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: a long playing album into a Chipmunk's album, or a 436 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: forty five you can turn into something that's really creepy. 437 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,520 Speaker 1: The songs Staying Alive played on a forty five but 438 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,479 Speaker 1: at thirty three and a third RPMs becomes a horror 439 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:16,960 Speaker 1: movie song. It's fantastic anyway. RCA Victor's album form also 440 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 1: had a larger hole in the center and you had 441 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: to use a thicker spindle or later an adapter, and 442 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 1: this was probably a decision to make the two formats 443 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: even more incompatible, like it was trying to make sure 444 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,480 Speaker 1: that the two could not be played on the same machine, 445 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 1: and this set up a pretty cutthroat competition in the 446 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: market for a couple of years, with like each company 447 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,480 Speaker 1: trying to muscle the other one out. But by nineteen fifty, 448 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,639 Speaker 1: RCA grudgingly began to license Colombia's system and began to 449 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: produce its own thirty three and a third albums because 450 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:52,840 Speaker 1: the forty fives were really only good for singles that 451 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: you couldn't sell a full album on forty fives. You 452 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: would have to sell you know, five or six forty 453 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:03,160 Speaker 1: fives per album because they just couldn't hold that much 454 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,399 Speaker 1: music per side. Columbia, for its part, began to produce 455 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,240 Speaker 1: forty five albums in order to push out singles because again, 456 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: that form factor was great for singles and B sides, 457 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:17,400 Speaker 1: but not so great if you wanted to do an LP. 458 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:21,639 Speaker 1: So both companies, essentially, after fighting each other fiercely for 459 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:28,200 Speaker 1: a couple of years, begrudgingly adopted the other companies formats. Now, 460 00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: if you have an older turntable or perhaps one of 461 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: the boutique kinds made for audio files. You may actually 462 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: have three settings for rotation speeds, the thirty three and 463 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:41,400 Speaker 1: a third, the forty five, and the seventy eight, but 464 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,640 Speaker 1: a lot of tables ditched seventy eight entirely because the 465 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 1: industry pretty much did the same thing back in nineteen fifty. 466 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:53,440 Speaker 1: Most of the records produced after nineteen fifty were firmly 467 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,520 Speaker 1: either in the thirty three in a third LP camp 468 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 1: or the forty five single and B side camp. The 469 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: world began to embrace vinyl, and sales figures climbed year 470 00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 1: over year, and according to the RIAA AKA the Recording 471 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: Industry Association of America, which in other episodes of tech 472 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: Stuff serves as the villain of the piece, vinyl sales 473 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: in the United States peaked in nineteen seventy eight, So 474 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: that year people bought more than three hundred and forty 475 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: million LPs or EPs so long playing albums or extended 476 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,440 Speaker 1: playing albums in the United States. These made up nearly 477 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:36,440 Speaker 1: half of all music format sales across every format, and 478 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:40,280 Speaker 1: they were the dominant format of the time. Now, I 479 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: was born in the seventies, and that might explain why 480 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: I have such a fondness for the vinyl format. Some 481 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: of my earliest memories involved listening to records with my family. 482 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,360 Speaker 1: My parents had tons of vinyl record albums. I remember 483 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 1: listening to the Beatles and John Denver and Linda Ronstat. 484 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 1: I also remember listening to comedy record records from groups 485 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,280 Speaker 1: like Beyond the Fringe, The Fire Signed Theater, and Monty Python, 486 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 1: and those experiences were great. But something was about to 487 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: happen that would be another massive change to the music industry. 488 00:30:13,520 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: I'll explain more after we come back from this quick break. 489 00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: All right, we're back. So what happened? Why did we 490 00:30:29,720 --> 00:30:34,560 Speaker 1: go from nineteen seventy eight to a record breaking sales 491 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 1: figure for vinyl to the decline of the format. Well, 492 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:42,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine, Sony introduced a technology that would 493 00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: create a sea change in the music industry. That technology 494 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: was the Humble Walkman, a portable cassette player. So music 495 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: cassettes had been around for more than a decade. In fact, 496 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: they first hit the scene in the nineteen sixties, but 497 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:02,480 Speaker 1: for many years cassette played were these really big stereo 498 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: components that you would buy. They were expensive, they were bulky, 499 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 1: and they took up a lot of space and you 500 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: had to connect them to other components in your stereo system, 501 00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: and if you already had a record player, you might 502 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,560 Speaker 1: feel like there's not much point getting a cassette player. 503 00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:23,360 Speaker 1: Some cassette formats, like the infamous eight track, saw a 504 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 1: brief spotlight moment due to being incorporated into vehicle audio systems, 505 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:30,719 Speaker 1: so then you could take your music on the go 506 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: with you. But the humble audio cassette would really grab 507 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:39,320 Speaker 1: the baton in the late seventies and truly take off 508 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,760 Speaker 1: in the nineteen eighties. So the cassette and the Walkman 509 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:46,560 Speaker 1: and later stuff like in dash entertainment systems and cars 510 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:51,000 Speaker 1: offered up portability, which was something that vinyl couldn't really do, 511 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:54,600 Speaker 1: despite a few efforts that aren't really noteworthy enough to 512 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: dwell on. And as we would see again and again, 513 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:03,160 Speaker 1: things like accessibility, portability, and convenience can matter just as 514 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:07,200 Speaker 1: much or perhaps even more than something like audio quality. 515 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: So while you might get an irritating hiss in the 516 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:14,880 Speaker 1: background of your music that's on cassette, particularly if you're 517 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: using something like really cheap headphones, well you could still 518 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 1: listen on the go, so that was an advantage. It 519 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 1: still wasn't super easy to navigate to a specific track. 520 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:27,680 Speaker 1: I'm reminded of all the times where as a kid, 521 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,480 Speaker 1: I was writing those rewind and fast forward buttons like 522 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: a maniac, trying to get to the beginning of a 523 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 1: specific song in the middle of one side of a cassette. 524 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:37,320 Speaker 1: But the fact that you could take your music on 525 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:40,560 Speaker 1: the go changed everything. It only took a few years 526 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: for cassette sales to not only make a dent in 527 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:48,200 Speaker 1: Vinyl's figures, but to actually out sell vinyl itself. So 528 00:32:48,320 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: depending upon your source, cassettes overtook vinyl sales somewhere around 529 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three or nineteen eighty four. I've seen different 530 00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:00,720 Speaker 1: citations for that. So the music industry was actually really 531 00:33:00,760 --> 00:33:03,720 Speaker 1: worried about cassettes at first because they opened up the 532 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 1: possibility for piracy, something that you didn't have to really 533 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 1: worry about with vinyl. But cassettes were different, and the 534 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:14,479 Speaker 1: industry would remain worried about piracy for the foreseeable future 535 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:17,960 Speaker 1: because every time there's a media shift that becomes one 536 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: of the big concerns. In fact, there are a lot 537 00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:24,280 Speaker 1: of times where the music industry resists change, and that 538 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:29,960 Speaker 1: makes adoption much slower because of this fear of piracy. However, 539 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,440 Speaker 1: the industry eventually came around to cassettes because they realized 540 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:35,880 Speaker 1: they could do something that they couldn't do before, which 541 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 1: was they had the chance to sell the exact same 542 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:43,560 Speaker 1: album on two different formats, potentially to the same customer. 543 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:49,120 Speaker 1: Sometimes they would include exclusive content on one format or 544 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:52,680 Speaker 1: the other or both, where you could buy the album 545 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: on vinyl and you'll get one track, you buy it 546 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,160 Speaker 1: on cassette and you get a different track, And so 547 00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 1: for some people were super fans, they would end up 548 00:34:01,680 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: buying both formats because they wanted to be a completionist. 549 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,600 Speaker 1: So there were ways for the music industry to make 550 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 1: even more money by introducing this new format. But another 551 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,840 Speaker 1: big blow to vinyl sales was right around the corner. 552 00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,520 Speaker 1: So cassettes dominated most of the eighties, but the technology 553 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:22,560 Speaker 1: of the compact disc, which actually traces its history to 554 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:26,719 Speaker 1: the seventies, would leave both cassettes and vinyl behind, so 555 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 1: vinyl sales took another blow. Cassettes would be hit even 556 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,320 Speaker 1: harder considering how far they had to fall because vinyl 557 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 1: had already fallen due to cassettes, but vinyl was able 558 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:41,920 Speaker 1: to hang on it increasingly took a smaller part, especially 559 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:45,560 Speaker 1: for the consumer side of media, but it didn't die. 560 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,520 Speaker 1: Remember when I said that vinyl LPs hit their sales 561 00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: peak in nineteen seventy eight, that was specifically for America. 562 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,280 Speaker 1: If we look at global sales figures, the peak actually 563 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: happened a little bit later. And we have to turn 564 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:03,160 Speaker 1: to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which tracks 565 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,359 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, and it says the peak of 566 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:11,680 Speaker 1: vinyl LP sales globally was in nineteen eighty one, and 567 00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:17,040 Speaker 1: that was one point one billion units sold worldwide. Now, 568 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:21,160 Speaker 1: that same group says that the lowest point for vinyl 569 00:35:21,239 --> 00:35:25,440 Speaker 1: sales worldwide was two thousand and six. That's when just 570 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 1: three million LPs were sold globally. So think about that. 571 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: A peak of one point one billion units and a 572 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:41,040 Speaker 1: low of three million. That's a huge drop. However, since 573 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:44,600 Speaker 1: two thousand and six, the vinyl industry has been on 574 00:35:44,719 --> 00:35:48,440 Speaker 1: an upward climb, and CD sales, while you know they 575 00:35:48,440 --> 00:35:52,319 Speaker 1: were the dominant format for the two thousands, really have 576 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,920 Speaker 1: been taking a hit, partly because of a new means 577 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:59,560 Speaker 1: of music consumption streaming. Once that rose to prominence, that 578 00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:02,839 Speaker 1: really to take a bite out of CD sales, and 579 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,600 Speaker 1: two years ago, in twenty twenty one, something really interesting happened. 580 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: For the first time since the CD took the crown. 581 00:36:10,719 --> 00:36:16,520 Speaker 1: Vinyl sales ended up outpacing CD sales. Yeah, in twenty 582 00:36:16,560 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 1: twenty one, more people bought albums on vinyl than they 583 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:23,840 Speaker 1: did on CD, and that remained true last year in 584 00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:27,000 Speaker 1: twenty twenty two. So for two years vinyl has been 585 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:31,800 Speaker 1: out selling CDs. So last year the number of vinyl 586 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,640 Speaker 1: albums sold in the United States was around forty three 587 00:36:35,719 --> 00:36:39,799 Speaker 1: point four to six million units, So forty three point 588 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,480 Speaker 1: four to six million in the US alone compared to 589 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:47,000 Speaker 1: three million units sold globally in two thousand and six. Now, 590 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:53,840 Speaker 1: I wouldn't say vinyl is dominating, but it's definitely not dead. 591 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:56,440 Speaker 1: It's not nearly as dead as folks thought it was 592 00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:00,400 Speaker 1: back in the mid two thousands. But then, you know, 593 00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,840 Speaker 1: maybe I should say that it is dominating because according 594 00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:08,360 Speaker 1: to Illuminate, forty three point four percent of all albums 595 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:11,839 Speaker 1: purchased in the US last year were on vinyl. Now 596 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:17,040 Speaker 1: that includes not just physical media, it also includes digital formats. 597 00:37:17,120 --> 00:37:20,560 Speaker 1: So this includes everything from MP three's to compact discs, 598 00:37:20,600 --> 00:37:24,719 Speaker 1: to cassettes to I don't know, wax cylinders. Forty three 599 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:29,080 Speaker 1: point four percent of all sales were on vinyl. When 600 00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:32,359 Speaker 1: you look at just the physical formats, well, vinyl made 601 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:35,760 Speaker 1: up fifty four point four percent of all albums sales 602 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:39,160 Speaker 1: last year. They really did dominate. But these figures aren't 603 00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:42,239 Speaker 1: really the ones that truly blow my mind. I mean, yes, 604 00:37:42,560 --> 00:37:44,799 Speaker 1: they are impressive, and the fact that vinyl has made 605 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:48,239 Speaker 1: such a comeback is amazing, especially for someone who was, 606 00:37:48,680 --> 00:37:51,839 Speaker 1: you know, alive when Vinyl hit its peak and then 607 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,800 Speaker 1: also alive when Vinyl hit its low. It's amazing to 608 00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:58,000 Speaker 1: see it have a comeback. But no, the thing that 609 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:04,160 Speaker 1: really shocked me was that Illuminate found another interesting statistic here. 610 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:07,120 Speaker 1: Maybe y'all won't find it shocking at all, maybe it's 611 00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:10,080 Speaker 1: not surprising at all to you, but it was to me. 612 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 1: So here we go. According to Luminate, about fifty percent 613 00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,800 Speaker 1: of the folks out there who are buying vinyl don't 614 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:22,040 Speaker 1: have a record player. Now, granted, this was discovered in 615 00:38:22,080 --> 00:38:25,719 Speaker 1: a survey that had a fairly small sample fewer than 616 00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:29,280 Speaker 1: four thousand respondents. Around three thy nine hundred and ninety 617 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,120 Speaker 1: or so responded to the survey, and about half of 618 00:38:33,160 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 1: them said that they had bought a vinyl album but 619 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:39,040 Speaker 1: did not own a record player. Maybe when you expand 620 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:43,320 Speaker 1: that out to the general music audience, that percentage won't hold. 621 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:46,600 Speaker 1: Maybe you won't see it be like a fifty to fifty. 622 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:50,160 Speaker 1: But even for a small survey, fifty percent having no 623 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:52,800 Speaker 1: means to play back the media that they have bought, 624 00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:56,759 Speaker 1: that's banana to me. Now, I suppose some of the 625 00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:59,920 Speaker 1: explanation here goes back to what I was talking about 626 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:02,920 Speaker 1: at the top of the show about the ritual of 627 00:39:03,040 --> 00:39:06,560 Speaker 1: playing vinyl. So, yeah, you can't actually play the vinyl 628 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:10,319 Speaker 1: if you don't have a record player. That arguably key 629 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:15,160 Speaker 1: component of the process is not accessible to you. However, 630 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:19,399 Speaker 1: you do end up having a physical object that represents 631 00:39:19,480 --> 00:39:22,680 Speaker 1: the thing you love, the music you love, the artist 632 00:39:22,800 --> 00:39:27,400 Speaker 1: you love. You have something that is tactile, It is real. 633 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:31,759 Speaker 1: So it's not this ephemeral file that only exists in 634 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:35,000 Speaker 1: digital zeros and ones. It's something that you can hold 635 00:39:35,120 --> 00:39:37,799 Speaker 1: in your hands and you can look at it. You 636 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:41,280 Speaker 1: can admire the album art. A lot of modern vinyl 637 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:45,360 Speaker 1: albums come with incredible liner notes that give thoughts about 638 00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:49,200 Speaker 1: how the songs came to be and what the artists 639 00:39:49,200 --> 00:39:52,160 Speaker 1: were doing when they were creating the music. Some of 640 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:56,160 Speaker 1: them come with other supplemental material like artwork and photography 641 00:39:56,360 --> 00:40:00,440 Speaker 1: and all sorts of stuff. The vinyl itself might be 642 00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:02,920 Speaker 1: a work of art. We've left the days of generic 643 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:06,840 Speaker 1: black vinyl discs behind, and it's no surprise these days 644 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:11,600 Speaker 1: to pull out a vinyl album that's bubblegum pink or 645 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:15,360 Speaker 1: Da Glow Blue or even Glow in the Dark or 646 00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:18,759 Speaker 1: Tie Die in all sorts of colors. The vinyl is 647 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:23,120 Speaker 1: a collectible and a physical object that connects the audience 648 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:26,560 Speaker 1: to the music, even I guess if they can't actually 649 00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:29,839 Speaker 1: play the music that's on that disc. And I do 650 00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:34,800 Speaker 1: get that music is capable of encouraging strong emotional bonds. 651 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:37,560 Speaker 1: There are certain songs I listen to when I'm in 652 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:43,360 Speaker 1: a particular mood because the music emphasizes feelings. Sometimes that 653 00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:45,480 Speaker 1: might not even be the feeling that the artist was 654 00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:50,880 Speaker 1: intending to impart, but that's okay. The way the audience 655 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:55,120 Speaker 1: consumes art and what the artists intended don't always align, 656 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:58,440 Speaker 1: but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing. And 657 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:03,239 Speaker 1: owning something physical seems to make it more real, like 658 00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:08,360 Speaker 1: there really is something going on more than just listening 659 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:11,279 Speaker 1: to some music. Now, if you go down that path 660 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:15,239 Speaker 1: too far, you start to stray into dangerous parasocial territory. 661 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:18,680 Speaker 1: But I do think that celebrating a connection to art 662 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:21,960 Speaker 1: is fine, just you know, don't project that into a 663 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:26,080 Speaker 1: situation where you and the artist or artists are magically 664 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:31,080 Speaker 1: besties in your mind and imagination or something that's not healthy. Now, 665 00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,839 Speaker 1: I guess I'm not quite old enough to just shake 666 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:38,359 Speaker 1: my head in confusion at hearing that, you know, half 667 00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:40,200 Speaker 1: the people who are buying vinyl don't have a way 668 00:41:40,239 --> 00:41:42,840 Speaker 1: of playing it. I do get it. I mean, I 669 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:46,160 Speaker 1: do have collectibles that don't really have any other purpose 670 00:41:46,239 --> 00:41:49,680 Speaker 1: other than to be collectible. Right. I've got things like 671 00:41:49,719 --> 00:41:53,920 Speaker 1: action figures. I don't play with them. They're connections to things. 672 00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:57,360 Speaker 1: I even have things like Funko pops that really can't 673 00:41:57,360 --> 00:41:59,759 Speaker 1: play with at all. You just look at them. So 674 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:03,920 Speaker 1: I do understand collecting things that give you a connection 675 00:42:04,040 --> 00:42:06,840 Speaker 1: to something you love. I also think that listening to 676 00:42:06,920 --> 00:42:11,560 Speaker 1: vinyl albums is a really cool celebration of technology, of music, 677 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:15,680 Speaker 1: of art, and of your own emotional experience to that art. 678 00:42:16,320 --> 00:42:20,600 Speaker 1: I highly recommend it if you haven't experienced it. Like. 679 00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:23,000 Speaker 1: I'm not saying go out there and buy a turntable 680 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,320 Speaker 1: and a bunch of albums, but if you have access 681 00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:29,920 Speaker 1: to one, I do recommend just sitting down to experience it. 682 00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:33,560 Speaker 1: It might take a little practice to experience music this way, 683 00:42:33,920 --> 00:42:37,040 Speaker 1: because we have trained ourselves to be more impatient and 684 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:40,840 Speaker 1: more demanding. You know, we have expectations for being able 685 00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:44,960 Speaker 1: to experience music on our terms, not the artist's terms. 686 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:48,400 Speaker 1: And there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. It's just different, 687 00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:51,680 Speaker 1: you know. We hit that skip button so quickly, and 688 00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:54,400 Speaker 1: I ain't gonna lie. A lot of albums have at 689 00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:58,280 Speaker 1: least one real clunker of a song that screams, hey, 690 00:42:58,560 --> 00:42:59,880 Speaker 1: this is a good chance for you to go to 691 00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:02,160 Speaker 1: a bio break. You don't really need to listen to 692 00:43:02,200 --> 00:43:05,360 Speaker 1: this one. That happens a lot, at least for me. 693 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:08,680 Speaker 1: But with some albums, you might find that listening in 694 00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:12,000 Speaker 1: this way, where you are sitting down and deliberately listening 695 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:15,560 Speaker 1: track to track and having that intermission and having to 696 00:43:15,600 --> 00:43:18,319 Speaker 1: turn a record over and start it up again, you 697 00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:21,880 Speaker 1: might find that that experience creates a whole new way 698 00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:25,160 Speaker 1: to appreciate music that you like. But be warned it 699 00:43:25,200 --> 00:43:27,280 Speaker 1: could make it harder for you to listen to tracks 700 00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:31,080 Speaker 1: and isolation in the future. There's certain songs where I 701 00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:33,840 Speaker 1: feel it's incomplete if I haven't heard the track that 702 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:36,840 Speaker 1: plays before it, because the artist made such a clever 703 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:40,520 Speaker 1: way of one track leading into the next that I 704 00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:44,759 Speaker 1: feel that it's not really the right experience if I 705 00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:49,160 Speaker 1: just listened to that one track completely isolated from everything else. Also, 706 00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:51,280 Speaker 1: before I conclude, there are a couple of other tidbits 707 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:54,040 Speaker 1: from that Illuminate study that I thought were interesting. So, 708 00:43:54,200 --> 00:43:58,000 Speaker 1: out of all the music genres out there, vinyl sales 709 00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:01,759 Speaker 1: were most popular in the rock genre. Rock albums made 710 00:44:01,840 --> 00:44:05,000 Speaker 1: up more than fifty percent of all vinyl sales, so 711 00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:09,520 Speaker 1: this is not something that is represented across every genre. 712 00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:13,840 Speaker 1: Rock really dominates. Second place was R and B and 713 00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:16,680 Speaker 1: hip hop, which also includes rap albums as well, so 714 00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:20,280 Speaker 1: a pretty big umbrella, and that made up around eighteen 715 00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:23,719 Speaker 1: percent a little less than eighteen percent of all sales. Also, 716 00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:27,520 Speaker 1: nearly half of all vinyl sales were made in independent 717 00:44:27,560 --> 00:44:32,600 Speaker 1: record stores, which is freaking awesome. I highly recommend seeking 718 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:35,600 Speaker 1: out a local record shop in your area. You could 719 00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:39,560 Speaker 1: find all sorts of gems. There a lot of independent 720 00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:43,560 Speaker 1: shops sell both new and used vinyl, and sometimes you'll 721 00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:46,920 Speaker 1: find stuff that you didn't even know existed that will 722 00:44:47,280 --> 00:44:51,319 Speaker 1: delight you. Some of the records you come across might 723 00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:53,799 Speaker 1: be quirky, Some of them could be really funny when 724 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:57,040 Speaker 1: viewed through a modern lens. Some come across as really 725 00:44:57,080 --> 00:45:00,080 Speaker 1: corny or square or whatever other adjective you'd like to 726 00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:03,120 Speaker 1: use for not very cool. You know, lame would probably 727 00:45:03,160 --> 00:45:05,560 Speaker 1: fit for a lot of these albums. But I promise you, 728 00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:09,640 Speaker 1: even in those categories, you can find stuff that has 729 00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:11,799 Speaker 1: a sleeper or two in it. In fact, that's why 730 00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:16,040 Speaker 1: I think soundtracks for films like Quentin Tarantino's movies, or 731 00:45:16,160 --> 00:45:19,880 Speaker 1: like James Gunn's films, specifically the Guardans of the Galaxy movies, 732 00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:23,280 Speaker 1: those soundtracks end up being huge hits because they contain 733 00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:28,520 Speaker 1: tracks that are seriously awesome but were largely overlooked. And 734 00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:31,879 Speaker 1: of course, there's new vinyl being pressed every year. It's 735 00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:34,120 Speaker 1: not all just old vinyl. There's lots of new stuff. 736 00:45:34,120 --> 00:45:37,400 Speaker 1: Bands that are active right now that are pressing albums 737 00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:40,719 Speaker 1: in vinyl, and indie stores carry that stuff too. So 738 00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:43,200 Speaker 1: if you do have an independent record shop near you, 739 00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:45,640 Speaker 1: take a trip and check it out. Look at some 740 00:45:45,719 --> 00:45:48,480 Speaker 1: of those albums, laugh at the cheesy album RT and 741 00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:50,839 Speaker 1: ooh and a the really cool ones. You know, maybe 742 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:53,400 Speaker 1: pick up a couple of albums, particularly if you have 743 00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:56,319 Speaker 1: a record player at home, though I won't judge you 744 00:45:56,520 --> 00:45:59,239 Speaker 1: if you don't. And I just want to give a 745 00:45:59,280 --> 00:46:01,720 Speaker 1: quick shout out to a couple of independent record stores 746 00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:04,719 Speaker 1: that I love. Back in Athens, Georgia, where I went 747 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:07,479 Speaker 1: to college, there's a shop called wax In Facts, which 748 00:46:07,480 --> 00:46:10,240 Speaker 1: still exists, I'm happy to say. When I was in school, 749 00:46:10,400 --> 00:46:13,440 Speaker 1: they actually had a room of used vinyl where they 750 00:46:13,480 --> 00:46:17,719 Speaker 1: sold records by the pound. You paid one dollar per 751 00:46:17,840 --> 00:46:21,120 Speaker 1: pound of records. It didn't matter what albums you picked, 752 00:46:21,239 --> 00:46:23,600 Speaker 1: so if you came across a rare pressing, just by 753 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:27,400 Speaker 1: flipping through all the albums, you could get an insane bargain. 754 00:46:27,440 --> 00:46:29,319 Speaker 1: So a big shout out to my buddy John who 755 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:32,120 Speaker 1: scored a pressing of meat Loafs Bat out of Hell 756 00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:35,839 Speaker 1: album on red vinyl that was really cool. And then, 757 00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:38,920 Speaker 1: not too far from where I live today, there's a 758 00:46:39,120 --> 00:46:41,799 Speaker 1: record store called Criminal Records. It's in a little five 759 00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:44,840 Speaker 1: Points area in Atlanta, Georgia. It's another great spot to 760 00:46:44,880 --> 00:46:47,680 Speaker 1: buy music. And comic books, and it's one of the 761 00:46:47,680 --> 00:46:51,719 Speaker 1: busiest shops in that little neighborhood, and it attracts a 762 00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:55,640 Speaker 1: wide variety of music fans. That's another cool thing about 763 00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:59,360 Speaker 1: Vinyl and these independent record shops. They have a broad audience. 764 00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:02,480 Speaker 1: And when you go to these physical locations, you run 765 00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:05,200 Speaker 1: into really interesting people. I mean, these are sometimes people 766 00:47:05,200 --> 00:47:08,879 Speaker 1: who are extremely different from yourself, but you'll find you'll 767 00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:13,759 Speaker 1: get caught up in conversations about music and art and 768 00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:17,319 Speaker 1: collections and things that you thought were really interesting and 769 00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:20,480 Speaker 1: maybe some lost gems. And it's just a great place 770 00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:23,280 Speaker 1: to connect with people as well as to the music itself. 771 00:47:23,840 --> 00:47:27,560 Speaker 1: And all of that is thanks to this technology. So 772 00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:29,759 Speaker 1: I wanted to do this episode not just to talk 773 00:47:29,800 --> 00:47:32,640 Speaker 1: about the tech, but to talk about its impact in 774 00:47:32,719 --> 00:47:35,960 Speaker 1: culture and society, because I find that to be the 775 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:40,120 Speaker 1: really fascinating piece of technology. I think all of tech 776 00:47:40,160 --> 00:47:43,520 Speaker 1: is really cool, but seeing how it interacts with us 777 00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:47,479 Speaker 1: is really where the magic is for me. And yeah, 778 00:47:47,640 --> 00:47:49,359 Speaker 1: just thought it'd be fun to talk about this. Also, 779 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:53,640 Speaker 1: just big shout out to Vinyl like continuing to climb 780 00:47:53,719 --> 00:47:57,160 Speaker 1: year over year. The most recent increases have been more modest, 781 00:47:57,480 --> 00:48:00,359 Speaker 1: but it's still been on the upward track, so I 782 00:48:00,400 --> 00:48:02,919 Speaker 1: hope to see that continue, and I hope I can 783 00:48:02,960 --> 00:48:06,640 Speaker 1: go shopping for some new vinyl pretty soon. Hope you're 784 00:48:06,680 --> 00:48:10,799 Speaker 1: all well, and I will talk to you again really soon. 785 00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:21,520 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 786 00:48:21,840 --> 00:48:25,560 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 787 00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:30,360 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.