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So why do so several people still select to play Vinyl when you can instantly download all of your preferred tunes at the click of a mouse? Perhaps Vinyl fans may possibly seem to  todays musical youth like a bunch of technophobes and Musical Dinosaurs (my self included!)! Don’t get me wrong downloading, Cd’s, ipods and all the other techno apparel that has brought the music industry screaming digitally into the 21st century and are great, fantastic in your automobile…or out for a walk, everywhere that carrying a turntable would be ridiculous!! Perhaps I’m becoming Nostalgic, and possibly a bit 20th century…

If you are of a certain age you will remember a time when a band brought out an album and it was like a major event! It was truly exciting! Having been tantalised for weeks or even months by the music industry about the forthcoming event you would rush to the store, leaf by way of the rows of vinyl, pull out the records and actually look at the photos on the cover. Sometimes they came with posters, bonus tracks, occasionally the vinyl itself was coloured, or an import, or a coveted limited edition! It was so satisfying to pull out the inner sleeve, switch on the deck, blow the dust from the needle, then listen to the whir of the turntable and the gentle scratch as the needle hits the vinyl….

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 Ah…they had been the days! I guess it is a private experience. Do not get me wrong I have CD’s! They are wonderful, handy, convenient, but somehow, sometimes just too handy and too convenient! Do not get me wrong, have Cd’s can travel, Ipods too… but when you are at residence nothing can beat the ‘feel’ of a record…the sound is far more in the moment… more organic…

Possibly that is the difference. Maybe I hanker for a time when you just had to wait, when you could have a sneaky appear at the upcoming sleeve design in the music press but it wasn’t immediately accessible. Downloading is instant! Do not get me wrong…downloading is fantastic and is a wonderful promotional tool for bands, and you can download many playlists, but for me it lacks the excitement and is a purely auditory encounter. With vinyl you had to wait and savour the moment. Now, as with just about every thing else music is readily available at the click of the mouse. From my expertise absolutely nothing beats holding the album sleeve in your hands having waited an age to get a copy, and then studying the lyrics and staring at the photos. It was a far more all round experience. I guess that vinyl nonetheless carries a excellent appeal specifically with collectors. …and hey great album covers make fantastic art and can appear actually cool on the wall! You also felt as if you were buying in to your Genre of music, becoming a part of the scene even if it was only by default simply because you bought the record.

Having mentioned all this…is it just folks of my age (ahem…40 something!) or do younger men and women still like to experience music in diverse types, particularly vinyl? I have to admit to seeing fairly a few 20 somethings thumbing by means of rows of Vinyl in a record store the other day so possibly the plastic is still wonderful!To sum up…music is personal…we all have preferences. Like film v digital photography (I really like my Digi camera, but hey film – now that was genuine photography!!!)

Possibly there is room for all, but I would recommend, if you haven’t accomplished so already, at least sampling the knowledge of hearing a distinct tonal good quality with out the digital…and holding the album sleeve in your hand, or putting it on your wall…you just cannot beat it!