Sensing Vinyl: Ritual, Memory, Materiality

ABSTRACT

Once relegated to the dustbins of media history, the vinyl LP has had a revival since the late aughts, becoming popular among all segments of music consumers, from those for whom it was the dominant medium of their youth to people who grew up only ever accessing music digitally. How is it that a format as clunky, costly, and fragile as vinyl would be so popular in an age of ubiquitous digital content? To address this question, this paper discusses vinyl’s aesthetics, sensorial qualities, and sociocultural affordances, and explores questions about ritual, memory, and materiality.

KEYWORDS:

• Audiophile
• memory
• nostalgia
• senses
• vinyl

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the reviewers appointed by the journal for their valuable comments and suggestions. Several colleagues offered helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this paper. Thanks to Sheryl Hamilton, Ira Wagman, Michael Mopas, Vincent Andrisani, David Jackson, Chris Russill, and Brett Popplewell. Finally, I wish to acknowledge the Faculty of Public Affairs at Carleton University, which provided a Research Initiation Grant that helped support the broader project from which this paper stems.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. The broader project entails interviews with more than 40 owners and/or managers of independent record stores in all regions of Canada. Most of these interviews were conducted in person and on site, with others completed via Zoom. I draw from some of the findings here; however, the main analytical arguments from this research will be the subject of a companion paper.

2. Waldron named The White Room after the popular B.B.C. music television program of the same name. Although the space is used to host the record club, its primary purpose is for hosting private parties, which it has done since long before the record club began.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Faculty of Public Affairs, Carleton University [Research Initiation Grant].

Notes on contributors

Josh Greenberg

Josh Greenberg is Professor of Communication and Media Studies in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University. His primary area of scholarship and professional activity is health, risk, and crisis communication. He is an avid vinyl collector and live music enthusiast with an interest in exploring the intersections of popular music, music technology, and fandom. He is currently writing a book on record stores in Canada.