Vinyl, please: as usual

So much has changed in 75 years... and yet, here we are: still spinning vinyl records

Photo by Thom Holmes on Unsplash

How do you feel about surprises? Personally, I don’t hate them, but I’d rather know about them well in advance.

I’m not embarrassed to admit I love certain routines. Every Friday, my husband and I go to the same restaurant, sit at the same table, and order the same dishes. And we absolutely love it, every single time.

If we are travelling or have other engagements, we do our Friday tradition another day. (We’re not that crazy).

Photo by Adrien Olichon on Unsplash

I find comfort in the predictability of certain rituals. Could I have the usual, please? But the usual—usual. Not the new version of the usual.

There’s something to be said about living in a vibrant, ever-changing city like London, which I adore. Or perhaps it’s because I didn’t grow up in the most stable of environments.

Call it what you will, but I need to know that certain things are going to be there when I need them. Unaltered. Unchanged.

There’s a reason we love what we love, right? I’m sure I’m not the only one.

I was thinking the other day about the reliability of vinyl. Its predictability. Its resistance to change.

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We have at our disposal an ever-increasing variety of new ways of listening to music. And yet, some of us are crazy enough to stick to the old ways.

Purchasing a record. Taking it out of its sleeve. Placing it on a turntable and letting it spin. Lifting the tonearm, lowering the stylus, and hearing that crackling, distinctive sound before the music starts.

The same old ritual, over and over again.

Some cosmetic changes aside, we vinyl lovers are, in 2023, still listening to music in pretty much the same way as our ancestors did 75 years ago. That’s three quarters of a century.

Photo by Sudhith Xavier on Unsplash

The technology to produce, manufacture and play vinyl records hasn’t changed much in decades. It doesn’t need to. It doesn’t want to. It can’t. (Thank goodness for that).

Imagine a 15” record. Did you cringe as well? Thought so. 12, please, as usual. We can entertain 7 and 10 (although the latter, let’s be honest, with a certain degree of suspicion).

As individuals, our attitude towards change may differ, but one thing is for sure: we need certain things to be there.

When so much of modern life is dominated by smartphones, streaming platforms, driverless cars, 5G, space trips, AI, smart cities, and the proverbial digital revolution; when people change jobs, move cities, split up, get engaged, have babies and die; when there is constant change around us, we are stubborn enough to stick to 12” discs that can only be played on machines that can’t be used for anything else.

Seeing as vinyl purchases keep growing, I guess I’m not the only one who doesn’t want certain things to change.

Thanks for reading/listening. Happy spinning!