Music to Whose Ears?

More music aficionados seem to be changing their tune when it comes to how they want to listen to the latest releases or classic recordings. For the past decade or so, the convenience of digital music—available anywhere, anytime (in the car or on a jog)—has been winning over what’s considered by many to be the best sounding audio format: vinyl.

The tables were turned a bit last year, however. According to financial reports from Nielsen SoundScan, a global information and measurement company that tracks music sales, vinyl record sales were at an all-time high in the United States last year since the company began tracking them in 1993. In total, the industry saw overall sales of 9.2 million vinyl records in 2014 in the United States, an increase of 52% from 2013.1

For the first time in nearly 20 years, more than 1 million vinyl records were sold in the United Kingdom in 2014, data from the British Phonographic Industry showed. The last time that milestone had been achieved in Britain was in 1996.2
Purchases of digital downloads (MP3 and AAC), meanwhile, dropped 9% for albums and 12% for songs in 2014. A German-based vinyl record manufacturer said it expected to press 18 million records this year. A new vinyl pressing plant is scheduled to open in Calgary, Alberta, later this year.3

Why the vinyl comeback and a dip in digital? Much revolves around quality—or the perceived high quality—that vinyl records deliver.
"Technically, the vinyl recording is a closer analog to the actual waveform produced by the music in that the wave is directly represented by the groove in the record," said James Paul Sain, a University of Florida professor of composition.4
Over the years, more low quality, quickly produced digital music with subpar, lossy encoding has been rushed to the music market.

This has turned off many keen-eared music consumers who fondly remember the days of 33 1/3 LPs, 45s or even 78s.
"You can set up a digital music label for a (relatively) very low cost, meaning the market is flooded with record labels that aren’t particularly high on quality control," said Jon Lloyd, a music genre specialist at Juno Records, an international online shop that sells both vinyl and digital music.5

Developing digital
Responding to the decline in digital, some digital music providers are being forced to become more sophisticated and come up with higher-quality music files. Apple has talked about upgrading its iTunes offerings, even hinting at ways to prevent music piracy.
Recently sounding off on the topic of music quality was rock legend Neil Young, touting his PonoPlayer, a triangular portable music player that promises only the highest of fidelities.

Young, co-founder of Buffalo Springfield and member of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, has become one of the most visible proponents of what’s called both "high resolution" and "high definition" audio. He’s bemoaned the quality of audio playback since the debut of the CD, and he thinks Pono, a company that raised more than $6 million through crowdfunding in a Kickstarter campaign, is the start of a "long-term reawakening."

Pono claims its $399 prism-shaped device can play music in higher resolutions and make it sound better than iPhones or Android phones can through the use of high-resolution audio.6
"Music makes you feel. You have goosebumps, you cry. You have a visceral reaction, and that’s what’s been missing. We are in a downward spiral and it has to end somewhere. We’re hoping it ends with devices that do what this device does," Young told an audience at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last month in Las Vegas.7

Increased costs
Not surprisingly, Pono’s purportedly superior audio will come at a higher price. For instance, an album available on iTunes might cost $9.99. Through Pono, the higher-resolution version of the same album could cost $17.99 or more.8 Don’t forget that collecting these versions of songs and albums will lead to spending more money to store and play them on various devices.
Some critics aren’t so sure about Pono and the motives of Young, who they say is "peddling junk science, and supporting expensive gear and music files you don’t need."9

Maybe Pono isn’t the answer. Maybe it’s Sony, which announced a battery of new high-resolution audio products, unveiling its $1,200 Walkman and its high-quality sound at CES.10

"But let’s be clear about what is in decline," said Simon Cole, the CEO of 7digital, a U.K.-based platform for creating digital music and radio services. "What is in decline is the download of low-quality MP3 files. I don’t think many of us will regret its passing."11
Vinyl records’ recent resurrection seems here to stay, too. "While it is impossible to predict" the future of vinyl record sales, said Sain, "Consumption of vinyl is likely to continue to rise if past trends are followed."12
—compiled by Mark Edmund, associate editor

References
1. Graham Hall, "Vinyl Records Back on the Turntable in 2014, Data Shows," Independent Florida Alligator, Jan. 13, 2015,www.alligator.org/news/local/article_eae4f9ea-9ae8-11e4-b102-e3ef97222049.html.
2. Megan Gibson, "Here’s Why Music Lovers Are Turning to Vinyl and Dropping Digital," Time Magazine, Jan. 13, 2015,http://time.com/3663568/vinyl-sales-increase.
3. Ibid.
4. Hall, "Vinyl Records Back on the Turntable in 2014, Data Shows," see reference 1.
5. Gibson, "Here’s Why Music Lovers are Turning to Vinyl and Dropping Digital," see reference 2.
6. James Cook, "Tech Companies Want You to Buy Your Music All Over Again at Higher Prices," Business Insider, Jan. 13, 2015,www.businessinsider.com/high-resolution-music-prices-2015-1.
7. Cathy Applefeld Olson, "Neil Young Explains Pono Once More Ahead of Its Retail Launch," Billboard Magazine, Jan. 7, 2015,www.billboard.com/articles/business/6429598/neil-young-pono-ces-2015.
8. Cook, "Tech Companies Want You to Buy Your Music All Over Again at Higher Prices," see reference 6.
9. Mario Aguilar, "Don’t Buy What Neil Young Is Selling," Gizmodo design and technology blog, Jan. 12, 2015, http://gizmodo.com/dont-buy-what-neil-young-is-selling-1678446860.
10. Takasha Mochizuki, "A $1,200 Walkman? Sony Pins Its Hopes on High-Quality Sound,"
Wall Street Journal Digits blog, Jan. 9, 2015,http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/01/09/sony-pins-hopes-on-high-quality-sound.
11. Gibson, "Here’s Why Music Lovers are Turning to Vinyl and Dropping Digital," see reference 2.
12. Hall, "Vinyl Records Back on the Turntable in 2014, Data Shows," see reference 1

Article Reference: QP