Analogue Sound by jgabbitas

ANALOGUE SOUND

*Page numbers will change in the layout order and how the pages stack up on each other

ANALOGUE SOUND

Introduction This newspaper supports our project, which focuses on analogue sound and the music industry. Through research we have discovered ideas and concepts unknown to us before, and not realised by the majority of people. In our modern society we have devalued the love for music due to piracy and the massive, downloadable choice. The easiness of acquiring music has lead to a loss of emotion attached to the sounds. Music is now much more disposable as individuals find themselves downloading albums and not giving it the attention it deserves, by maybe skipping to their favourite songs or only giving the it a couple of listens. On the turntable you will hear a collection of recognisable hardware and software sounds associated with technology. You may recognise the motor’s whirr as the scanner reads a document, the chimes as your windows 98 computer logs on, the snap as you insert a floppy disc, the rewind hum as your rewind your favourite movie. These are all nostalgic sounds for us, so this abstract musical piece instigates reflective memories. As time goes on technology grows rapidly, making life’s everyday activities quicker and less cherished. You may not think these actions are sadly missed, but we are just outlining the idea that technology is making life’s physical tasks almost nonexistent. We are so dependant on computers and Smartphone’s; most of us would crumble without them. Listening to music was once a magical pastime, however now it’s something most us do without even thinking about. In the abstract piece, there is a 1974 speech from Arthur C. Clarke, inventor and science writer describing what the future would pan out for home computers. When computers filled a room, he describes that in the year 2001 we would all have a compact machine in our homes, and we would become a computer dependant society.

ANALOGUE SOUND

Everyone recognises the memorable crackles, hisses and pops when a vinyl record is played, but some people believe this is the only reason that this format has such a huge following. It’s not! The physicality of a vinyl record, compared to digitally stored mp3’s you can’t touch, holds much more of a significant value. Some people argue the idea that you don’t own your digital library when it’s vulnerable to loss with a simple hard drive malfunction. However all vinyl lovers and collectors agree that music in this format possess a sentimental value, a different kind of love towards something we all adore – music. Yes most people today own an iPod for music on the move, we aren’t implying digital music is the devil, we like it because it’s portable. However it’s sometimes too easy! How many times have you bought an album off iTunes and not listened to it the entire way through? This is making music less valuable and much more disposable. There is also the physicality of taking your much-loved treasure out from its sleeve and placing it onto a turntable

with the extra process of dropping the needle. This routine is rewarding when you have to get out of your seat to put on your favourite tune! Most of today’s youth will not experience the occasion where you would go to your local record store, and find yourself hunting and scrambling through shelves. Finding something you’ve always desired in a hidden bargain bin that you hadn’t the slightest clue you would stumble upon, is such a good feeling! Another fun aspect of vinyl records is the visual appeal. You get to view the artwork in all it’s glory, printed large for you to enjoy and feel. Album artwork is an extension of the musical artefact, it should be enjoyed and it should instigate connections of emotions with the music. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, posters are included so you can enjoy visual artwork attached to your favourite music.

ANALOGUE SOUND

HOW TO (ILLEGALLY) REPLICATE A VINYL IN 5 EASY STEPS

Music piracy is nothing new, but nowadays it’s a hell of a lot easier than it used to be. Circa 1960/70 it wasn’t uncommon to tape record songs straight from the radio and create your own mixtapes. Or even giving your vinyl or CD to your friends so they can listen to it for that amount of time, or more recently upload the tracks onto their own computer so they can own the songs forever. Now, it’s as easy as a few clicks away on the internet and any song or album is yours with essentially no fee to pay. This is of course illegal, but doesn’t stop millions of people worldwide doing it. The revolution of digital technology has made music more accessible, but has also caused the music industry to lose out on billions because of actually how accessible it is.

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Find or make a shallow wooden box that has no lid, and is large enough to fit in a 7”, 10” or 12” record.

Place the record in the box and pour liquid silicone over the record in the box until the surface is completely covered.

Wait for the silicone to fully dry and peel it off.

Place the silicone with the mould facing upwards, pour liquid plastic into the mould and for it to set.

Once this has also set, take the hardened plastic out of the mould and you should have a fully set discs with the exact same grooves as the original ready to play.

ANALOGUE SOUND

VINYL

REBORN

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RECORD STORE DAY 2014

Record Store Day is an internationally recognised day that celebrates vinyl records and the shops that sell them. It was founded in 2007 and has taken place every April Since then, with events taking place all around the world. Musicians release special edition vinyls at a discounted price to promote the art of vinyl, because due to technological advances and the availability of digital downloads this art has been lost. Record Store Day brings together the artists, musicians, traders and fans who are given a chance to regain their love of analogue music and sound. In recent years vinyl has made a steady resurgence and has become extremely poplar with all fans of music. RSD has become a celebration of all things record related and gives a boost to local records shops which there are only handful in each UK city.

@mohinchley - Apr 19: #recordstoreday2014 “It’s really cool and its really impressive actually seeing so much interest, and seeing people queuing and so much fashion”

@recordstoreday - Apr 22: Spending the last 3 days #RSD14 record wrap-ups. Thanks to ALL OF YOU who went and made the stores crazy, busy, happy 4/19 Whilst others were slightly more pessimistic... @veldhuid - Apr 22: @recordstoreday RSD was an epic faliure. Scalpers ruined the day proving that local stores are out of date and online is the future. Rip RSD

@_Caroline_vw - Apr 19: I FOUND ITTT!!! Day= made. Signed, sealed, delivered it’s mine!!

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“When I woke up this morning I said it feels like Christmas, but it’s like Christmas for nerds...it’s brilliant.”

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THE MUSIC INDUSTRY IS BROKEN

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THE 5 THINGS THAT ARE KILLING OF MUSIC INDUSTRY

Piracy

ITUNES

ONLINE STREAMING

Undoubtedly the biggest threat to the music industry is the constant battle with piracy. For almost its entire existence it has faced this problem, but with the rise of technology and the speed and power of the internet people are sharing music like never before.

When Steve Jobs created iTunes no one would have expected its enormous impact on the music industry. He brought music into the digital age with mp3s and the ability to hold thousands of songs on one pocket sized device.

Online streaming sites are a fairly new challenge to the music industry with sites such as Spotify and Pandora allowing users who pay a subscription fee access to a enormous music collection at the touch of a button. Personally I like Spotify its my new addiction when it comes to music. Its a great way to discover new music.

Sites such as the PirateBay have allowed users to instantly obtain music through peer 2 peer sharing of files. According to the Financial Times the music industry in the UK specifically loses approximately £500 million per year due to illegal downloading. With more than twice as many albums illegally downloaded then from sites such as iTunes and Amazon. For many years the industry has pointed to the 18-25 age bracket as the biggest problem when it comes to music. In the past this was age bracket that was most likely to be driving record sales but no longer is this case and research taken out shows that the most active cities in the UK for downloading music illegally are Manchester and Liverpool which coincidentally have a considerable student population. Its hard to point fingers at a certain group of people as we are all guilty of the occasional illegal download myself included. When it comes to this problem the music industry needs to grow up and face the times. There will always people who prefer to buy music but with everyone of these people there is 10 sat behind a computer who don’t believe in having to pay for an album or song they like. So in my opinion it is down to the industry to change its ways and reward its customers. Give more than just merely the CD and an occasional lyric book. When I commit and buy a CD/Record I want to feel like I am making an investment, many times I have bought an album and thats all its contained the music. No insight into the band or no bonus features which would make the downloaders jealous.

One of the saddest aspects of iTunes is that you never feel a personal connection to the music that you own. Every song is just a number in an enormous collection of data that which you hold on your computer. One of the greatest feelings of owning a CD is the actually sense of holding it in your hand. Being able to admire the artwork or read the ‘thank-yous’ in the back. I admit that having music stored on iTunes is an incredibly convenient way of storing all your music but thats really where it ends.

THE RECORD COMPANIES The record companies for many years have taken the easy route by going through the middle man (as in large consumer stores) they are cutting of their initial supply and demand. People no longer go to the record stores for their music. The excitement of a new release no longer exists as a buzz around the nations music shops. The cheaper prices that sites such as Amazon and Play offer bring in the customers and has split the industry right through the middle.

Spotify recently revealed that musicians only receive $0.007 per play of their songs. For some artist this is not enough they believe they are sacrificing their own sales by giving the rights to Spotify. Thom Yorke of Radiohead pulled two albums from the service stating “Make no mistake new artists you discover on Spotify will not get paid,” he continued on Twitter. “Meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it. Simples.”

SOCIAL MEDIA Similarly to the internet as a whole, social media specifically has been blamed for contributing to the decline in the music industry. The instantaneous way of communicating between artists and fans has only increased the demand for ‘instant’ music. Artists and musicians can repeatedly promote new music and concerts via Twitter for example, which raises awareness of the artists and record label but at the same time decreases the value of the music. When you are bombarded with music labelled ‘100,000 likes and we’ll release a new track’ just promotes the value of social media and popularity.

ANALOGUE SOUND