Turn, turn, turn

(Last of two parts)

THE USS Enterprise in “Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)”… photo:startrekmovie.com

Owing to the passion of the prime movers of the current vinyl resurgence in the country, and the positive response to their advocacy, could the plaka recover its place as the dominant recording format in the 21st century?

Hobbyist Robert Crespo points out, “During our time, vinyl was the only format.” Fellow advocate Joseph Esmilla, a classical violinist, seconds: “I was born and raised [in an] era when the LP was the standard storage medium for recorded music.”

That is no longer the case, but composer-turned-advertising executive Nonoy Gallardo makes a happy clarification: When he listens to music passively, “pang-background lang,”  he plugs in his Ipod. “When I have the time to sit down and savor every note, [I go for] LPs.”

Bong Rojales of Heima, a home and lifestyle company that has turntables and vinyl records among its merchandise, notes, “The vinyl market is definitely growing worldwide, but so is iTunes and other modes of music listening.”

He himself comfortably moves from one format to another, says Rojales—

from  vinyl (at breakfast) to  FLAC files on his desktop, to eight-tracks while mobile, to a CD in his car.

Aside from helping out in the release of “Ang Nawawalang Soundtrack”

(music from the indie film “Ang Nawawala”) on vinyl, Heima supported Number Line Records’ “Primate,” by the laptop-and-drums duo Tarsius (Diego Mapa and Jay Gapasin). It is also retailing “The Number Line Anthology,” featuring the Number Line label’s stable of indie bands. “All are doing well by our standards,” reports Rojales.

Unique marketing

Toti Dalmacion’s Terno Records released “Capacities” by Up Dharma Down in 2012. Market response, Dalmacion says, has been “positive” in spite of, or maybe because of, a “unique and distinct” marketing strategy. “We sell it only during gigs, and at Fully Booked (book store chain).” Up next is a vinyl release by the Radioactive Sago Project.

The local mainstream record industry has yet to jump on the bandwagon,

except for Polyeast Records. Richard Calderon, Polyeast new media manager, is the Lone Ranger of mainstream OPM companies.

Calderon recalls how stunned the company execs were, when almost half of “Bamboo The Singles” units produced were sold within the first week of release. Last month, Polyeast launched vinyl albums by  OPM icons  FrancisM, The Dawn, Joey Albert and True Faith. Calderon hopes this resurgence can help reverse the damage wrought by piracy. “Hopefully, it will make people more appreciative of how great our music is as a country.”

… looks interestingly like this portable turntable photo: thegreenhead.com

Will all these heroic efforts generate critical mass? Judging from the perceived power of the two distinct sectors of vinyl purchasers, it is not beyond the realm of the possible.

The first group is the youth. Rojales notes that most of their vinyl and Crosley buyers are between 20 and 30 years of age. Dalmacion likewise observes, “[Vinyl] is perceived as something in, trendy and cool.” Graphics artist and sometime radio programmer for Joey 92.3, Boy Bustamante also detects a “rebelliousness” factor. Parents of today’s youth listened to CDs growing up, he said. True to form, the youth want to be different—and take to vinyl.

Staying power

There is another, equally significant, group, notes indie film and music video director Marie Jamora, herself an enthusiast, whose economic power bodes well for the vinyl market. This is the market segment that grew up on vinyl and now has disposable income. These individuals, born and raised in households where the vinyl was king, are now in their 40s and 50s. (Jamora directed “Ang Nawawala.”)

Last year, visionary director JJ Abrams showcased the vinyl as the ultimate way to enjoy music in the year 2354, the year that “Star Trek: Journey to Darkness” is supposed to have taken place. It’s a time when spaceships can time warp, humans can be beamed up and the dead can come back to life… and when, remarkably, music can truly be enjoyed only through vinyl records playing on turntables.

Esmilla’s recent insight dovetails with Abrams’ fearless forecast. Says the classical musician: “The first microgroove LP was released in June 1948; the first CD player and audio CDs, in October 1982. It’s December 2013 and we are talking about LPs, which are still available on the top floor of Fully Booked at Bonifacio High Street, along with CDs and DVDs. This, in itself, is an indicator of vinyl’s remarkable staying power.”