Music has left a mark on people’s ears throughout their existence and has become an indispensable phenomenon. With each developing age, humankind has tried to make music immortal, and thus has acquired a very important technology, especially in the past.
This technology gave rise to the records we still listen to with pleasure today. Vinyl records have a very strong fascination as they carry a melody from old times to our ears and are truly valuable.
What is Plaque and How Was It Born?
Records are one of the most important technologies developed for recording music in ancient times. Because the first known music records in history began to be produced in the 1880s. Plaques, which were known to have a fragile structure in those years, were produced with a fragile structure from a material called ebonite.
As everyone knows, when it was first used in Turkey, it was called a stone record. With the improved technology, vinyl records called 45’s have emerged, which are made of plastic and break less frequently.
Vinyl records are considered records that continue to be produced even today and are presented to music lovers with a nostalgic structure. People who want to listen to music in a more traditional and pure form prefers to use records.
Stone records are easily used in gramophones and vinyl records are especially used in turntables and state-of-the-art audio players. People who want to collect classical music works and albums also prefer to collect these records.
Indispensable Melodies of Old Times
Music has always existed in Turkish society throughout history, and as society changed its culture, it also changed musical genres. After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, there were changes in music along with technological developments and changes.
As records have become the basic elements used for music publishing in Turkey, new musical movements and musical works have emerged. During this period, as we all remember from our childhood and youth, pop music, especially light western music with Turkish lyrics, entered our lives.
Turkish pop music, Turkish rock music, Anatolian rock, Turkish folk music, Turkish classical music and music genres from around the world have managed to appear in many homes with records.
It is possible to find indispensable songs that have survived from ancient times to the present day in the ears of every listener. Because these indispensable melodies managed to touch the listener at some point and become unforgettable at the time they were written.
The strong relaunch of unforgettable melodies, especially in cinema and television, has also enabled the magic of vinyl to shine strongly again. Especially in the 2000s, old record music began to be used very frequently in TV series broadcast on Turkish television or in world cinema.
This situation has revealed people’s longing for old musical works and artists. Although people can easily find these works on phones and digital media, records have become popular again to reach the classics and achieve a mystical quality.
Why Are Old Records More Loved?
To discover old music, singers or genres you’ve never heard of before, you need to listen and research a lot more music. The first environment you can evaluate in this respect is, of course, internet music platforms.
However, the sound you hear on electronic devices can sometimes disrupt the classic and sweet tone of the music. For this reason, it is always more valuable to listen to the music you are looking for on a cassette or record.
Record collecting has had an important place for a considerable period both in Turkey and around the world. People are still trying to obtain preserved stone records, 33-track (LP-long player) records or so-called 45-track records.
Because vinyl creates a magical sound structure and can provide a stronger way to obtain the original quality of the music. In fact, one of the most important facts is that people look for quality in music. Because everyone who wants to listen to quality music and escape from complex music turns to the past, and the music of the past has a much more enjoyable structure on records.
Musical works and the singer’s voice pass through many filters. The music transferred from devices and computers is optimized and presented to the listener. However, in this case, the quality, liveliness, naturalness and originality in the sound may disappear.
Records are the preferred music media to obtain the highest and truest sound quality. The song recorded on a vinyl record has not been reduced, compressed, quality altered or filtered. The sound works that you can listen to on records provide you with the advantage of presenting real music without losing sound.
The World Doesn’t Give Up on the Magic of Records
With stone records and then vinyl records, the music industry managed to develop itself more strongly. In the last 100 years, musical works have been made available to more people in all countries of the world thanks to these records.
However, when the world was deceived by the rapidly developing structure of technology, cassettes and CDs, which quickly followed, emerged. These digital and fast platforms have caused a decrease in the quality of music but also a decrease in its cost. In fact, the main purpose is to deliver music and musical works to people more economically and quickly.
Cassettes, music CDs and DVDs were very popular when they first came out and provided music media that were accessible to everyone. However, with the development of the same technology, when music was transferred to the digital environment, these music environments also disappeared.
However, people later realized that records were more valuable than cassettes or CDs in terms of returning to music and regaining its quality. That’s why today the world still can’t give up on the magic of records. To give an important example for today, records are treasures, with their sales still continuing and their effect being passed from hand to hand.
For example, one of the most important records throughout history that has still been on sale since 1982 is Michael Jackson’s Thriller album. While this album set a record with over 27 million copies sold, it achieved a sales figure of nearly 100 million, especially when cassettes and CDs were added.
Many people around the world who have fallen under the spell of vinyl records have even expanded their collections to great heights. For example, a Brazilian businessman created the world’s largest record collection, owning over 6 million records.
Especially, as many people know, 45 records are included in collections because they bring the quality of music to the highest level. These records, which play at 45 rpm, make the music magical as they present the sound in a much higher quality thanks to their fast movement.
New Record Sales Today
Today, vinyl records continue to remain popular and continue to be sold in all countries of the world and in Turkey. Some artists even prefer to present their new albums in a classical way, on vinyl records, just like in the old times.
Records, which have come from history and managed to regain popularity, have managed to achieve sales of over 20 million copies in a country as large as the USA in recent years alone. In Turkey, there are thousands of indispensable melody fans who both collect classic records and follow new records.
See you in the next post,
Anil UZUN