Page 27 - Mediterraneo e dintorni - nr 12
P. 27
a World of musiC in 33
revolutions for minute
or the younger generation accusto-
Fmed to consuming music with iTu-
nes and Spotify through a click, throu-
gh streaming video or audio, acronyms
such as CDs sound old. But there was
a time when listening to a classic, the
soundtrack of a film, a band or a sin-
ger-songwriter, corresponded to the
celebration of a ritual in the center of
which it stood: the turntable, that ma-
gical rotating plate capable of releasing
sounds and emotions. In the beginning
was the gramophone, on which the 78
rpm were positioned, an evolution of
the so-called “phonographic disk”, both
invented by the German Emile Berli-
ner. The mass development came with
the 33 rpm, born June 21, 1948 in New
York: Columbia Records presented it to
the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. This new
format of vinyl record was a resoun-
ding success and profoundly changed
the music market and consumption
habits. In fact long playing, or LP, cer-
tainly one of the most used acronyms
for decades, allowed the possibility of
recording songs on both sides of the
disc - indicated as Side A and Side B -,
each of which guaranteed about twen-
ty-five minutes of music.
Clearly, the best usability, the quality
and resistance characteristics of the
new lighter and more modern format,
supplanted the 78 rpm. A year later -
we are therefore in 1949 - the reduced
version also arrives: the 45 rpm, with
its two songs and the famous covers
that have now become collectors’ items
like the older brother. Prices also beco-
me more accessible. At the end of the
seventies vinyls achieved a resounding
and perhaps unexpected success with
stratospheric sales. The technological
evolution brings further novelties and
towards the end of the Eighties a new
support arrives: it is the CD, or rather
the compact disc: the material changes
(polycarbonate), the size changes (12
centimeters in diameter against 30 of
long playing) , and increases the capa-
city that digital technology can offer.
It’s another revolution. That definitely
makes a clean slate of vinyl. Or may-
be not. In fact we can say that the 33
rpm never died but turned into a ni-
che product, for admirers and enthu-
siasts. Today it seems to live a second
life if it is true that the vinyl is again
required and produced, in considerable
increments. In 2018, in the United
States, almost 17 million copies were
sold between 33 and 45 rpm, while in
Nel 2018, negli Stati Uniti, sono sta- discografico. Pare che ormai siano Italy it now represents 10% of the re-
cord market. It seems that by now in
te vendute quasi 17 milioni di copie oltre venti milioni, nel mondo, gli the world there are over twenty million
fra 33 e 45 giri, mentre in Italia rap- appassionati di “dischi neri” che fans of “black discs” who buy at least
presenta ormai il 10% del mercato acquistano almeno un vinile. one vinyl.
Mediterraneo e dintorni - 25
