They say you have to invest in vinyl

What a surprise: some enthusiastic texts inviting you to register appear in the Spanish economic media the bubble vinyl music. They’ve already thrown the bait out of some headlines — an “interesting investment” — designed to nudge the curious: “Can vinyl record production really be a good business?” They even grossly exaggerate: “The vinyl manufacturers make the gold.”

It is better to moderate this enthusiasm: it is a complex technology that requires expert personnel. From what I know, nationally, factories have opened in Madrid (Mad Vinyl Music), Castellón (Krakatoa Records) and Bizkaia (Press Play Vinyl). Caution: they do not offer the range of services that characterized the old record mills, which, apart from working on various media, also handled the meticulous cutting process, generally overseen by producers and, from time to time, by the keenest artists.

If there is no vigilance, disasters can occur, such as the one that occurred with the initial run of the first LP of Nasha Bob, which looked more than weak and had to be removed. Now, matrix development is usually outsourced, without those responsible for the audio tool being able to do anything more than cross their fingers and hope that pressure test Don’t be disappointed.

Regardless of the minute details, the fact is that the venerable vinyl record has recently established itself as the format of choice among Job offer and artists. This makes sense: they are more attractive and offer higher margins. What should not reassure us: a feature of this reckless industry is that it tends to slaughter its cash cows. There they think in binary terms: we pass on to this support and forget about the previous one. The truth, surprisingly, reveals that the two backers get along. The jokes about CDs—you know, they only scare pigeons—hide the fact that they still fuel a robust market, more solid in some latitudes than others.

It’s another matter if the proverbial child appears and shouts that the king of vinyl is naked. As it happens in the current case: not to mention its price, the CD is superior in sound and usability (and let’s not talk about the “warmth of analog sound”, which sounds like a typical Council of Nicaea argument). Curious: the producer recently opted for a support, let’s say hybrid. Stephen Street, who worked with bluror Pretenders or Cranberries, claim CDs that, instead of a plastic or cardboard case, are housed in LP sleeves, 31 x 31 cm, allowing graphic designers to have the same creative margin as before.

I have a suspicion: compressed materials tend to scratch when moved from the hole in the cardboard. Then there is the environmental argument. Recall that at the beginning of the commercialization of CDs, in some countries they were sold in long boxes, the so-called long boxes, designed mainly to deter theft and, by the way, to promote a cheap product that was sold as a luxury good. A waste of millions of tons of paper defeated by a coalition of independent labels and high-profile artists, such as David Bowie or the hot red pepper Today, such an alliance would be impossible: the only prevailing motto is every man for himself.

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