Capital Times: Back In A Groove - Vinyl Record Albums Still Have A Following

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Capital Times: Back In A Groove - Vinyl Record Albums Still Have A Following

http://www.madison.com/archives/read.php?ref=/tct/2007/03/28/0703280439.php

Back In A Groove

Sales Are Up For Traditional Vinyl Albums

Vinyl Record Albums Still Have A Following

The Capital Times :: FRONT :: A1
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The Capital Times
E-mail: [email protected]

Roloff says that his vinyl sales have shot up 43 percent in the last three years, and he's on track for another record year in 2007. In fact, when he put in new shelves for CDs, he had them designed specifically so they could also house records when the store expands its selection later this year.

Not bad for a format that has been around for a century, and many thought would have disappeared altogether by now. Fragile, unrewritable and as easy to carry around as dinner platters, vinyl albums may be the recording medium least suited to the digital age of the IPod.

And yet, vinyl's obituary has been written many times before, from the advent of live radio in the 1920s to the invention of cassette tapes in the 1960s and compact discs in the 1980s. But through it all, vinyl has hung on by its fingernails, kept alive by a devoted collection of supporters that include audiophile purists in love with the album's "warm" sound to hip-hop DJs who turn their turntables into musical instruments.

Today, cassette tapes have vanished from the music landscape, and CD sales are plummeting in the face of the digital music revolution. But vinyl still hangs on, and is even enjoying a renaissance of sorts lately.

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