History of Vinyl Records: The Rise, Fall And Resurgence

Before jumping onto the history of vinyl records we need to understand about the recording history. About how sound is recorded and played back for the first time. The journey of audio recording is very fascinating. It opened a new mode of communication through our voice. To understand this, we have covered the history of vinyl records in four time periods.

1. 19th Century: Phonographs

The first trace of recorded sound was observed by the French scientist  Edouard-Leon Scott, in 1857 who was successful in recording the sound vibrations on paper which is known as a phonautograph. But this cannot be reproduced. It was like the fingerprint of the sound.

In 1877, Thomas A. Edison came up with the machine known as the phonograph. A phonograph is a machine that can record as well as playback audio. Edison was successful in recording the audio on the cylinder covered with tin foil. It is known to be the first machine can play the recorded sound.

The first sentence, Edison recorded was “Mary had a little lamp. The phonograph can both record and play sound but with poor sound quality.

After that, Alexander Graham Bell took up the idea of Edison’s phonograph and improved it by replacing the tin foil with a wax coating on the cardboard cylinder. In 1887, he came up with the machine known as the Graphophone. The wax cylinders remained popular in the rest of the 19th century. The Columbia Graphophone Company was established in 1887 to market graphophones that later became the famous Columbia Records. However, the wax can hold only two minutes of audio and was not viable for mass production.

In 1887, Emile Berliner patented the gramophone which works on laterally cut flat discs. He was successful in etching the spiral grooves on the flat circular disc that can be played back on the gramophone when the needle is placed upon it which in turn produces the sound. 

2. First half of the 20th century: Flat and Round Shellacs

After experimenting with different materials, he devised the lateral disc record made of a material known as shellac. These discs were also known as shellac discs. The shellac was a durable material and recorded 2-3 minutes of audio on each side.

In 1901, Emilie Bernier founded the “Victor Talking Machine Company” to manufacture his inventions of gramophone and records.

Shellac discs are popularly known as “78s” because they run at a speed of 78 rpm to produce 4 minutes of recorded sound. The shellac discs became popular in the first half of the 20th century. 

In 1910, the speed of spinning the record became standard at 78 RPM, previously it was not fixed.

In 1925, the first electric recording was started.

Shellac disc or we can say 78’s has dominated the first half of the 20th century. But shellac is a brittle material that creates extra noise and distortion.

In 1930, the RCA Victor successor of Victor Talking Machine Company, launched records made of vinyl which rotates at a speed of 33 ⅓ RPM and can hold music of about 42 minutes on both sides but the timing of launching these records was not suitable.

At that time it did not get much attention because different equipment was needed to play these records and most of the 1930s was suffering by the Great Depression.

During World War II, shellac supply became difficult, so the companies were forced to work on new formats with more durable materials.

3. Second half of the 20th century: The Vinyls

In this course, in 1948 Columbia was the first to come with its 12-inch long-play record (popularly known as LP) made of a polymer called polyvinyl chloride. Thus, the name came to be as vinyl records. 

It was the first microgroove record which runs at 33 ⅓ RPM and can hold audio of about 50-55 minutes on both sides combined. The vinyl records were more flexible and durable as compared to shellac records with much better music quality.

In 1949, the rival RCA Victor responded with the smaller record format of 7-inchs which immediately lured the music listeners with its compact size and portability. These records rotate at 45 rpm, popularly known as extended-play (EP) records. They became the most popular record format.

The competition between the two was famously known as the “War of Speeds”. The RCA Victor 1958 came up with the vinyl record with stereo playback in the single record with dual channels and it was a breakthrough in the music industry and instantly became a hit.

The era of the 1950s and ’60s saw a remarkable rise in the popularity of vinyl records. This was the golden age which saw the rise of artists Elves Presley & Chuck Berry with their rock and roll music and the advent of other musical genres.

Record companies tapped the popularity of the musicians and started the mass production of vinyl records to make them more accessible and affordable to reach a wider audience. The 12-inch LPs were the preferred record format as they could store whole albums that can be played for extended periods and they came with much superior sound quality.

Many iconic albums from this era continue to be pressed and enjoyed by music lovers today.

The Decline of Vinyl Records: 1980s and 1990s

As time passed, the popularity of vinyl records went down sharply with the introduction of cassette tapes and later with digital formats like CDs which were more compact and thus it was a more convenient option for music listeners. The manufacturing facilities were forced to stop production as demand for vinyl plummeted.

For the next 30 years, CDs/DVDs became the undisputed recorded music labels champion. After the entry of digital streaming services, the sales of digital started to decline and in 2020, it was seen that sales of vinyls had surpassed the CDs.

4. Resurgence of Vinyl: Recent Years (2000 and beyond)

In recent times, vinyl records have experienced a remarkable resurgence in popularity. This trend of vinyl made a comeback starting in 2008 since then sales of vinyl have touched new heights with every passing year. While digital music continues to dominate the scene, a growing number of music lovers have shown their love for the warm, pure, and authentic sound of vinyl records.

Source: Statista.com

The vinyl record started getting popular among the young generation who wanted to experience and appreciate the evolution of music recording.

Vinyl resurgence has opened new business opportunities with new record stores opened in cities and towns, Musicians and artists started releasing their music on the vinyl which again reaffirms its rise. Recently, the sales of vinyls in the USA has surpassed the sales of CD/DVD’s.

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