Girl about town Jade Hylton on the rise and fall of vinyl
THE HEART OF MUSIC
Music has always been a massive part of Brighton culture. With over 400 bars, clubs and pubs, we thrive on our night life and togetherness in which our love of music is an important component. Vinyl was invented by Emile Berliner, and allowed people with a gramophone to purchase their favourite songs, heard on the radio, and play them at home whenever it tickled their fancy. Music lovers had the freedom to take music to play at a friend’s, to dance to; perfect if you couldn’t afford a live band!
Almost a hundred years after vinyl was introduced, there became a decline in 1983, when the noise-free compact disc was introduced. And shortly after, in 1988, CDs were outselling vinyl records for the first time. It was in the year 2000 that the internet transformed the music scene, as companies offered free music. So what does this mean for the record shops that have been on the streets of Brighton for decades? Will our love for music and all things original and unique mean that the purchasing of music online will pass our music stores by, without so much as a scratch? Or is it just too tempting to simply search and buy online with the click of a button?
Even with the rise of the compact disc, people who have a substantial collection of vinyl don’t feel the need to begin again with CDs. So, there are a lot of people who still need record stores; these shops are the heart of music. They keep the blood of music pumping around the body of our city; it’s these stores that brought the ability of buying all types of music to everyone and pulsed the good feeling through our souls, so the people who perhaps couldn’t afford or didn’t want to go to glamorous parties or night clubs could still enjoy and feed their love of music in their own homes. Not to mention DJs… if we went straight from band stands to internet downloading, it’s a wonder we would have any of the great DJs we have today!
“Record stores keep the blood of music pumping around the body of our city”
Since the internet allowed us to purchase music online, there has been a massive uproar from the artists who are creating music toward people who are downloading it for free. With the way in which the media has climbed in value and infiltrated our everyday lives, it’s hard to imagine some artists feeling the full effect of their music being downloaded for free, when they’re probably getting more cheques for interviews and photo-shoots then record sales!
In the 1980s, there were more than 2,200 record stores in the UK. Figures from the Local Data Company show that in the year 2012 the number of record stores in the UK fell from 293 to 274; a fall of 6%.
The greatest decline was in London, where a shocking 10 out 65 shops closed, but in the south west there was an increase from 4 to 47. So, there might be some hope yet.
Luckily for us, we are a community that love our oldies and originals, so I believe Brighton will keep the blood flowing through the bodies of our record stores. We appreciate the real, tangible, and keepsake value of our music. So I hope when you read this, it will make you want to pop into your local record store. Even if you don’t pick something up, you might find a vinyl or CD you had forgotten existed and could only find, not by scrolling through pages and pages on the internet, but by discovering it through physical presence in a record store and by keeping what’s real, alive.
Blog: Berudy.blogspot.co.uk
Blog: Jadehylton.wordpress.com
Follow me: @JadeHylton
