Vinyl sales up as music lovers get fed up with DRM
Posted on 17/04/07 17:55 by Seán Byrne                             
Vinyl sales up as music lovers get fed up with DRM

As we reported a few times in the past, while most people have long forgotten about the LP, apparently LPs are climbing in sales despite the falling CD sales.  According to this report, vinyl record sales have increased by 10% over the last year with audiophiles fed up with anti-piracy measures heading back to vinyl.  Some also claim records sound better than the CD versions. 

While it is very difficult to make a perfect copy of a record due to a record holding music in the analogue format, at least consumers can easily re-record their vinyl collection to CD or on their PC to place on their MP3 player.  As vinyl records cannot be crippled with DRM, a vinyl record is pretty much guaranteed to be playable on any turntable that plays its speed (usually 33rpm for LP or 45rpm for a single).  I'm sure some who looked at Amazon's Top 100 selling electronics would have noticed a USB Turntable among the top 100 on occasion, especially around the Christmas period where one ranked higher than even Microsoft's Zune.   

Thanks to GristyMcFisty for letting us know about this news.

Reactions
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By neo1918, Tue 17 Apr 2007 18:52
Yeah, like DRM has anything to do with the sales of records. It's one thing to say download sales are down and CD sales are up because of DRM (but I don't think that's the case), but this is a load of...
By Jamie (guest), Tue 17 Apr 2007 18:53
I heard this story on the radio and it makes no sense. DRM causing people to buy VINYL?? Since when has anyone ever had trouble copying a CD, maybe in 1993? This is the craziest notion I've ever heard. CDs cannot, and never will be, protected with DRM. It is not in the spec. And it's vastly simpler to make a bit-perfect copy of a CD than to make a (poor sounding) CD from a piece of vinyl. This is an interesting little blip but it has NOTHING to do with DRM.
By shuma02, Tue 17 Apr 2007 18:58
I was at BestBuy just this week looking at a SONY turn table for some $140 dollars I think. I almost got it, but then I started to think; I need space for that thing in my cramped apartment and I need records to play. All that with a little less than perfect music quality. So I think I'll save me some money instead and stick to my CD's and MP3's. I too think that there is no link between DRM and records. It's like saying that sales of 1985 Honda are up because the new models burn too much gas... hehehe.
This message was edited at: 17-04-2007 19:00
By Sebastian Mares (guest), Tue 17 Apr 2007 21:00
Believe it or not, some LPs really sound better than CDs when it comes to dynamic range. I had the chance to listen to some recent recordings of rock albums and while the CD version was heavily compressed and in some cases also had clipping because of poor mastering, the LP had a much better mastering.
By tv69 (guest), Tue 17 Apr 2007 21:43
DJ culture has definitely helped to keep vinyl sales strong. I agree with the above posts. Avoiding DRM does not seem like the reason for sales increases in vinyl records. A big reason for the move to vinyl records is the sound quality of CDs has been compromised because studios decided to make their CD sound louder than the next guy... the loudness wars. The do this by dynamically compressing the sound and thus losing dynamics and clarity. Check out this vid on youtube that explains the phenomenon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ Vinyl does tend to sound better than CD in most cases, unless you have a really good CD playback system. But then again, if the vinyl is not MASTERED well, then it will sound like crap also... garbage in, garbage out. Most people moved away from vinyl for the promise of CD's perfect sound and for the convenience or portability of the format. You might be suprised how good vinyl does sound if you re-visit the format. I think more and more people are discovering this and many used record stores sell vinyl for $3-5 a pop. A lot cheaper than CDs. There is also a large audiophile community that is strictly into vinyl, and that community keeps growing. TV
By joe (guest), Tue 17 Apr 2007 22:40
\"...and while the CD version was heavily compressed and in some cases also had clipping...\" Do you mean the loudness war? Can records be compressed as much as a CD? I didn\'t think they could.
By Ragnarok666, Tue 17 Apr 2007 23:06
The Loudness war is gay. Cd's are the better format, but they are abused, the CD will still play even if the signal is clipped. Fortunatly clipping and Vinyl are very difficult to put in the same sentence without major problems and just can't take the same level of abuse. I personaly buy Vinyl to make decent quality cd's or search around 2nd hand stores and e-bay for non remasterd versions of cd's.
This message was edited at: 17-04-2007 23:08
By GRiMREEFA (guest), Tue 17 Apr 2007 23:14
Are you having a giraffe, who come up with this rubbish!!
By DeadMan, Wed 18 Apr 2007 00:35
DeadManAudiophiles lol clown
By Dark Tower (guest), Wed 18 Apr 2007 06:28
I had to go back through 3 links to get to the original report -- an audio presentation on NPR. The report doesn't say vinyl LP sales are up BECAUSE of DRM. Rather, the lack of DRM is mentioned as an advantage LPs have over 'some' downloaded files and 'some' CDs. No argument there. The restrictions on most for-sale downloaded music and on non-compliant CDs is certainly not advantageous to the end user. Also, an industry analyst is interviewed in which he says that they no longer track vinyl sales trends, so there is NO data to explain the 10%. This could be explained by a very popular album being produced, or just that the delivery boat finally cleared customs. It doesn't equate to 'lack of DRM = increase in vinyl sales'. I did like the title of the first linked article, in which the writer mentioned LPs as 'Play Anywhere'. I know what he meant, but honestly, how portable is a turntable? When's the last time you threw a record onto the turntable when driving to McDonald's? That was the problem with this 'news'. Each person (myself included) just paraphrased and pulled little details from the previous reports. Go far enough on this, and you get those National Enquirer articles where Peanuts Cause Mars Probe To Explode...
By Oz., Wed 18 Apr 2007 08:36
Yeah , vinyl replaces MP3 and CD real soon, Apply will release a iNYL this summer. You heard it here first.
By agomes, Wed 18 Apr 2007 10:41
Interesting discussion Vinyl will give you a sound better than CD - no question about, but there is a but...providing you use a good hi-fi system , and this can be quite expensive. This has a very simple explanation: LP will return you the complete recorded sound wave while CD is limitied in frequencies to 20Hz - 20000 Hz, leaving out sounds you don't get at conscient level but have an effect on your sound perception. Vinyl has to be handled properly and use has an effect on disc - so an advantage for CD that is much more convenient. And this was one of the main factors, together with commercial and marketing interests that drove vinyl down and brought us CD dominance. One of the reasons why LP sales almost disapear was because you could not see the disc for sale at the shops. You say DRM have no impact and this is a joke - ok, but CDs have copy protection and vinyl doesn't - right? I can only give my personal example - besides this is not a problem to record the music if you know how to do it - I refuse to buy CDs bearing a copy protection label. And, yes - last year I bought 2 vinyl albuns, one of them just the same as a CD I bought before (with no copy protection by the way) and I made the test to see how these new discs would compare (because CDs became better now than the first ones), and there is no doubt the differences are still there. Once again, the difference is the compression that eliminates that sense of air around the instruments ans the one of space (not the one produced by electronics or AC3) - 20 -20000 limitation charging its toll. To end - the problem it is not if vinyl will replace MP3 but why shall MP3 replace vinyl. Don't forget - MP3 it is what you get after throwing away the baby with the bath's water. I agree you find new devices that return quite good quality sound but you know - quality it is what you perceive, not an absolute value and you only notice when you can listen to a much better equipment. Sales people have an interest to sell you MP3 files vis the net and dematerialize music business, but quality is another thing. After all, the important it is that you feel happy with what you have got and if highly compressed music is it, just fine for you...otherwise, get the real thing.
By david (guest), Wed 18 Apr 2007 13:35
I can tell that it has been a while since most people on here have even looked at a vinyl. Records wear down from the first time you play them, loosing dynamic range and definition. You will be lucky if after the first play the quality still exceeds the CD version. This is providing you have a cartrage capible of exceeding 22.000 khz, generaly speeking $200 + Then their is background noise. Most of this can be eliminated with a good turntable at $600 + however this does not get rid of clicks and pops infact it makes them more pervasive, Then their is rumble present on the record from the mastering stage which is annoyingly audable.
By tv69 (guest), Wed 18 Apr 2007 19:00
"Posted by DeadMan on Wednesday 18 April 2007 00:35 Audiophiles lol" Care to explain?
By agomes, Thu 19 Apr 2007 01:56
You're right about prices David and I'd say it's from there up and the strange thing is that you can see a considerable number of new models of turntables in the last years, and when almost everybody would say this was a dead media. But you do exagerate about the wearing speed, the clicks, pops and rumble. If you have a good and tunned system, properly grounded and you eleiminate statics you shouldn't have all that. One thing gives you some reason also - people looks for convenience and CD only demands you throw it into the player, don't ask you to turn it upside down the play the other side, so people tends to use it even if the qualities of LPs are a fact. And the LPs that you can find for sale now come at a price that don't give them an adavantage. From the business side is a dif story - as I said in the previous post they want to dematerialize the business and you to buy files instead of discs. For some reason they could probably explain SACD never took off!
By John (guest), Fri 20 Apr 2007 05:01
The LPs sounds very good, CDs sounds okay, but reel-tapes sounda also very good supergrin . But try and look at this turntable, it is exspencive but very smart, you play vinyl-records like a normal CD. cool Link: http://www.elpj.com/

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