Record revolution in vinyl comeback

The tone was almost funereal. Exactly a quarter of a century ago, this newspaper reported the solemn news that WHSmith would no longer be selling vinyl LPs.

Singles would continue for a short while longer, though in ever dwindling numbers, but there was little doubt what the message was. After years of decline at the hands of cassettes and compact discs, the era of the classic gramophone record was coming to an end. It was the vinyl countdown.

Fast forward 25 years, and the turnaround is remarkable. While the cassette tapes are now almost impossible to find, vinyl has not been so popular in decades.

Last month the amount of money spent on gramophone records overtook that of digital downloads for the first time since the new technology was introduced, and thousands of artists now record their latest music on the format – not bad for something which was supposed to have died out when Right Said Fred was Top of the Pops.

Joseph Cave was just six when the obituary to vinyl was written in January, 1992. Now 31, he runs one of Shropshire's biggest independent record shops, and reckons he typically sells up to 200 albums every week.

And he says the recent reports of vinyl sales totalling £2.4 million during one week in December, compared to £2.1m from digital music purchases, greatly underestimate the true popularity of old-school records.

"Those figures are just for the new recordings, they don't include vast market of second-hand records which are sold," he says.

Joseph, who has been running Cave Records at Shrewsbury's Parade Shopping Centre for the past four years, developed his love for vinyl long before it became trendy.

Growing up in the post-vinyl age, he says that as a youngster he was extremely proud of his CD collection. But in his late teens he discovered the joys of vinyl, and never looked back.

"I've always loved music, and have loved vinyl ever since I was 17," says Joseph, who runs the business with his wife Becki.

He insists the old cliche "it sounds better on vinyl" is more than simply rose-tinted nostalgia.

"Most CDs can hold 16 bits of datawhen transferred from tape, whereas vinyl can hold 24 bits," he says. "It is even more the case when compared to MP3 recordings, many of these are nowhere near as good as vinyl."

If that all sounds a bit arcane, what it essentially means is that contrary to popular belief, traditional gramophone records give a deeper, more faithful reproduction of sound than the newer formats.

This does not simply mean, as was said when CDs first came out, that pop or rock tracks recorded on vinyl sounded more "raw" and atmospheric, but that CDs were technically superior.

Joseph says that even for the most discerning classical music buff, the sound quality of a traditional gramophone record is superior to that of a CD.

"When CDs came out, a lot of their success came from the myth that they were supposed to be indestructible, and also that they were more compact than the vinyl albums, which were a bit bulky to carry about," says Joseph. "But vinyl has always sounded better."

At least it does when played properly. "You do need to have good sound equipment," says Joseph. "The problem is that some people buy these suitcase record players, and the sound quality is never going to be any good from those. You do need to have a good quality turntable, a proper amplifier and some good speakers."

Joseph says one thing he has noticed over the past four years is how an interest in vinyl crosses the generations in a way that it never did before.

"I would say the biggest age group we get in the shop is young people, 16 to 21 years old, but we also get people in their 50s and above who are looking for the music they listened to when they were younger."

At the other end of the scale from Joseph's business is the venerable record giant HMV. It is four years this week since the music retailer was placed in administration. At the time, retail expert Neil Saunders said he believed the collapse of HMV had been inevitable.

"The bottom line is that there is no real future for physical retail in the music sector," he said. Maureen Hinton, of Verdict research agreed, saying it had been too slow to recognise the importance of the internet.

"If it had gone online 10, 15 years ago, it's got a very strong brand name, it could have built up a real presence," she said. "But at the moment if we think online you just think Amazon."

However, the vinyl comeback has propelled HMV back from the brink. Incredibly, in January 2015 it overtook Amazon to become the largest retailer of physical music in the UK, and then in October 2015 the chain returned to Telford for the first time since the firm was in administration.

And the man who wrote the Star's obituary to vinyl some 25 years ago?

Journalist Phil Gillam is delighted that vinyl is back in vogue.

"It does my heart good to see several shops selling these magical, beautiful discs of black shiny plastic," he says.

"I have got three lads, and even the youngest one, who is in his early 20s, is buying vinyl records, it's the first thing they ask for at Christmas."

Phil says that when he mourned the passing of vinyl a quarter of a century ago, he never for one moment imagined we would be having a conversation about vinyl once more topping the music charts.

"It's remarkable, I can't think of anything else in history where something that was once considered outdated has made such a remarkable comeback."