Vinyl once more
Who
would have thought that the vinyl record would make a comeback in this digital
age? But it has, surprisingly. In 2016,
in a massive reversal of fortune, record sales in the United Kingdom surpassed that
of digital downloads.
Almost
30 years after ditching the vinyl record, Japanese conglomerate Sony announced in
mid-2017 that its Japanese arm would start manufacturing records once again to
meet the growing demand. If things go as planned, the company’s unit in Tokyo
will start producing them as early as this year.
Is
the adage ‘Old is gold’ proving itself once again? The resurrection of the old style
record in the West can be attributed to more stores selling them. What about the
Indian market? Even though the scenario is more subdued, things are moving here
too.
“Record
sales were always there, but the vibrations were absent,” says Prem Kumar Gupta
of Symphony Kolkata. “After all these years we feel the excitement again.” The shop sells around 90 vinyl records a month
since 2017.
“Perhaps
music started sounding flat, and that’s why people have gone back to records.
It has a different feel,” he adds. Md. Ilyas, proprietor of M/s Gramophonic, a
specialist in dealing
with records on Lenin Sarani in central Kolkata, however,
has a different
take. “Records have always enticed customers, but it never reached the
heights it was supposed to,” he rues.
The
market is wretched, he feels, adding, “How many shops sell records today? It used to be 500 at one time. Today, maybe
there are five recognized shops in the entire city of Kolkata.”
Mohammed
Iqbal, a fellow record seller, has been in the business for over five decades.
He started with vinyls, moved to cassettes and later sold CDs.
Pondering
on the future of people like him vis-Ã -vis
the music industry, he is pretty upbeat. “Say
whatever you want to, but the record market has a life of its own.”
The sound quality
Moloy
Ghosh, a Delhi-based music restorer, says that the basic sound quality of vinyl
is unmatchable. “The depth of sound of a vinyl record can beat the likes of a
cassette or a CD player any day.”
Add
to that the longevity of a record, one has the perfect combination. The only
thing that comes close to records in terms of longevity is a cassette. While a
cassette with proper handling can last nearly 40 years, a vinyl record on an average
lasts about 60 years, if not more.
Teenage connection
Teenagers
are the most impulsive among the age groups. With little or moderate experience,
teenagers are more susceptible to falling for a particular trend. For vinyl, it
has done wonders.
“More
teenagers frequent my shop these days,” admits Ilyas. “Maybe it has something
to do with the money too,” he says, referring
to the low
cost of second-hand vinyl.
Records: One for the future?
While
vinyl sales in the West have not dropped since 2006 and culminated as the
biggest winner a decade later, the growth is India has not been that noteworthy.
However, better returns in 2017 have prompted experts to think positively.
“Today
we have the largest catalogue selection for vinyl in India,” says Jojie Mammen,
vice president and business head, Sony DADC, India.
In
the coming days we will see even new releases on vinyl paving way to
introduce larger vinyl selection of Indian repertoire with
vinyl-shopping going mainstream.”
However,
of late,
there has been a lot
of interest from
independent artistes to launch albums
on vinyl format,
he notices.
Another
factor which hinders the growth is the cost of a turntable.
“Records
have always been a rich man’s game in India.
It was never for the middle class,” says Rantideb Maitra, a connoisseur
of music and a scholar. He explains that a top range turntable costs around
Rs. 25,000 and above, while a starter
level device was no cheaper than Rs.
7,000. That’s how costly it was,” he says, laughing.
Digital download and streaming
It is
somewhat like a rare case
of the predecessor taking
on a successor.
In fields like
sports and politics, perhaps it’s
seen but not
in case of technology. Yet, the unthinkable has happened. Digital
streaming and downloading have
been humbled by record sales in 2016, inviting ominous comments from
experts, who have opined that the former medium is inching toward
the end. Does it mean a farewell to
the YouTube, if at all?
People
like Ghosh ‘very rarely’ tune into YouTube to listen to songs, preferring quality
over other metrics. However, Maitra opines that YouTube must remain in order
for certain records to stay ‘alive.’
Still a second-hand sales market
The
Indian vinyl market is still driven by second-hand sales. As a result, it is directly
dependent on supply of old records. How do the sellers obtain the records?
“We
get them from people who are willing to sell their collection. Maybe it belonged
to their grandfather or someone in the family and now these antiques are taking
up more space than usual and so the seller wants to get rid of them. So they
contact us,” informs Gupta.
Promising a change in the scenario, Mammen adds, “Vinyl is an important part of our business and has been gaining momentum in the last one year. The vinyl selection available in India was limited to a few international titles for quite some time, but Sony DADC has pioneered the effort in making available a large range of International selections with Indian e-commerce portals. At the same time, it has released a wide selection of Hindi films in vinyl too.”
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