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Originally Posted by Spine magazine
Vinyl Farewell
It looks as though audiophiles may have to resign themselves to the fact that in a few years time there will be only the chance to fondly re-live the good old days of nostalgia, rather than experience the new. Vinyl, the medium that took over from Shellac, Bakelite and even earlier the wax pressing, has had its final play – well, almost. The year 2009, looks set to be the final turn in the long standing vinyl revolution.
A June 2003 press release from The Institute of Chemical Engineering, advised that key by- products of the current petroleum refining process would no longer be generated by 2009, due to deadlines agreed, in principle, with the chemical industry back in 1992. These deadlines were however, only finalised in 1999, in the face of increasing environmental concerns and lobbying.
The IoCE went on to advise that a voluntary co-funded research and development program to seek a green alternative, possibly a polycarbonate based compound had been proposed in the 1999 summary. However no members of the industry wide syndicate had been able to substantiate a sufficiently high market demand for a replacement for the petroleum by-product, which is the primary base for vinyl record albums.
Whilst concluding that the news marked “The end of an era for vinyl”, a spokesperson of music retailing giants Tower Records advised that with sales of collective vinyl products accounted for less than a third of a percent (0.28%) of their total music sales World-wide in the last accounting period. “Hardest hit will be the few remaining traditionalist vinyl Disc Jockeys” Tower Records confirmed.
Tower replied positively when asked if this early warning would mean a silence in the thousands of DJ booths and radio stations around the world. “For some, existing skills will need to be adapted for use with the rapidly advancing Compact Disc DJ equipment” continued Towers spokesperson., “it promises to be a very exciting transition as older techniques are retained and used alongside the plethora of new features that CD technology already offers todays forward thinking DJ’s and turntablists”. Towers spokesperson added “It is unlikely that we will continue to carry vinyl into 2009. We believe the needs of the DJ will be totally digital, in one medium or another, prior to the cessation date.”“
Radio stations and other areas of the broadcasting community are unlikely to be affected by this early warning of environmental issues validating the need for minor lifestyle changes either,. since almost a of the music played in a modern broadcast scenario is primarily CD, or from Digital archives owned under licence by the larger radio stations
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