The Vinyl Revival 

strides onwards 

Vinyl record sales are accounting for increasing sales of music, and its not all back catalog items either, but ‘new’ music by contemporary artists.   

The UK record industry trade body, the BPI, publishes statistics about album sales and its findings for 2022 show that albums (or LPs as some of us still call them), are increasingly important in the music world. 

Of the ten biggest selling vinyl albums in the UK last year, eight were new releases. Last year only half of the top ten vinyl albums were new releases – and a few years ago it was only three. That is a definite trend.

 “Vinyl’s revival has been one of the most welcome success stories of recent times,” says BPI boss Geoff Taylor. “ While initially this renaissance was built largely on older music fans reconnecting with treasured past albums and on younger generations newly discovering classic releases, increasingly the ongoing rise in LP sales has been driven by brand new releases”.

“A diverse and growing number of contemporary artists have recognised the enduring magic of this most beloved format”, he adds, “from global superstars such as Taylor Swift and Harry Styles to breakthrough UK talent including Wet Leg and Yard Act. As the LP marks its 75th anniversary in 2023, it’s as relevant as ever, highlighting that, in an age of streaming, physical music purchases remain an essential and healthy part of the music market”.

In case you wondered, the eight new releases that feature in the top ten vinyl albums of 2022 were: –

              Taylor Swift               ‘Midnights’

              Harry Styles               ‘Harry’s House’

              Arctic Monkeys         ‘The Car’ 

              Liam Gallagher          ‘C’mon You Know’

              Wet Leg                      'Wet Leg’

              The 1975s                   ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’

              Fontaines DC             ‘Skinty Fia’ 

              Muse                           ‘Will Of The People’

The Arctic Monkeys also have one of the older albums that made it into the vinyl top ten this year, with the 2013 release ‘AM’ at number nine, while Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ – from 1977 – was at number six.

Record Store Day is an annual event that began in 2007. Its usually held  on a Saturday in April as well as on Black Friday in November. Its designed to  "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores around the world. 

Many artistes release special 'limited edition' records on that day which are only available in independent record shops, such as Darren Crowther's  Disc Discovery on Spring Bank in Hull, or in Eric White's shop in Norwich.  Both they and many other independents deserve at least a visit from you - you're bound to enjoy browsing the thousands of new and used vinyl on sale.  You're bound to say , quite a few times, "Oooh, Ive not heard that for years and years, I must give it a home!" 

Happy disc hunting!

Keep your screen clean !

 

Always keep 

your studio screens clean!

Visiting a radio station the other day I was appalled to find the screen were all smudgy, in fact some could only be described as "caked in muck".  I shudder when I think what may have happened; some of these essential items. I'm talking about screens costing about as much as a small car here!

On asking some  of the team why they were not keeping them clean, they said that the engineer (who was someone who only called in in an emergency, m or for a onece a month check up!) has advised that they be left as they were as cleaning them would damaged the surface.

Looking closely, I saw that these were not of any type that could be damaged by simply cleaning them, if it is done properly. I sent someone out for a pack of the correct MICRO FIBRE cloths and demonstrated how to clean LCD and OED screens correctly. Its a very simply process.  

All you need do is a dry, soft cloth to wipe it free of dust and debris. Here is a link to a great low-cast packet of blue ones - all lint-free and perfect for screens of all types, monitors o TVs. 

(Keep a separate one for your mobile phone or iPad  as these will get covered in the most awful gunk that you dont want to spread to a studio monitor, that you may be working at for many hours).

The correct cloths also leave the screen anti-static, so it does not attract dust in the air.  (Radio studios should be relatively dust free anyway - the correct was to do this is to have the air-conditioning set so it creates just a tiny bit positive air pressure, which means that when the door is opened, a slight 'whoosh' of the air being expelled will be experienced, which caries out all the tiny particles of dust and rubbish that are created by YOUR rubbish your clothes against things.

If you have an LCD TV, you should press very gently gently. The liquid crystal screen may get pushed down if you’re too rough, creating dark spots. Turning your TV off and on again will fix this issue, but no reason to put your screen under stress.

Some stains and marks will need a solution to loosen them. Oily spots, fingerprints, or anything else that needs a bit more scrubbing, can easily be shifted by spraying a little bit of electronics cleaner on a cloth with a few drops of water and gently rub the area until it’s clean.  and the best one that I've come across is  SCREEN MON.  Their Screen Monitor Kit contains a premium quality micro fibre cloth and a 16oz bottle of their own special formula screen spray.  Not just a few squirts, but over 1,500 squirts, so this will last a fair old time.  

Screen Mon is not an alcohol based liquid, this is plant based, so it wont attack any delicate plastic or anything else. No ammonia or any other harmful phosphates that are found in some other liquids that will leave your screen scarred and streaky.  Screen mom is made with gentle plant based cleaning agents and is completely odourless.

Apple's 5k Monitor and the newest Applebook models come complete with a special very fine microfibre cloth. It is accompanied by a warning, which is worth repeating here

NEVER use an acetone based cleaning agent to clean a monitor.  

Click here for more details of the Screen Mon cleaning kit; you need it to take care of your LED & LCD TVs, computer screens and Studio  Monitors, Laptops,  and iPad screens. Over 1,572 Sprays in each large 16 ounce bottle.

(For infrequent cleaning of hard-to-remove substances on either nano-texture glass or standard glass, you can use a 70% Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) solution. But do take care, and only ever rub gently.