by Pat Prince, Goldmine editor

In 2002 Gary Freiberg founded Vinyl Record Day, a nationally established day to celebrate as the organizations Mission Statement says:”The Preservation of the Cultural Influence, the Recordings and the Cover Art of the Vinyl Record” and to have August 12th as a day of Family, Friends and Music. The choice of the date, August 12, is significant. Reportedly, it is the day Thomas Alva Edison invented the phonograph in 1877.

So far, Vinyl Record Day has not gained the recognition that, say, Record Store Day has. But it is gaining momentum. Getting national publicity without a budget or a paid staff can be tough. To solve this difficulty Freiberg has written a proposal for a series of First Class postal stamps that commemorate the historical importance of the recordings on vinyl records. The Vinyl Record Stamp proposal has been accepted by the U.S. Postal System, the proposal’s current status is ‘Under Consideration,’ which, according to Freiberg, is a “notable big step toward issuance according to representatives of the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee.” Unlike Record Store Day, a for profit group whose focus is to sell music on any format, the goal of the 501 (c) 3 non profit Vinyl Record Day (VRD) is to increase awareness of the importance to preserve our audio history recorded on vinyl and to encourage a day in the middle of summer when friends and family gather together with their favorite music to remember that regardless of world news or personal difficulties life always has its goodness.

Below is a recent interview with Gary Freiberg, founder of Vinyl Record Day:

How did this idea of Vinyl Record Day become a reality? read more

Is the Gospel Quartet genre prepared for the new music medium?

It was not that long ago when gospel quartet groups on tour sold LPs at their table.  Yes, some remember the 12″ black plastic round plate that actually had music on it.  You played it on something called a turntable.  And that turntable had a needle -A Needle- that when placed in the grove had us clapping our hands, tapping our toes and sometime even shedding tears.

From there we leaped over the cassette to the Compact Disc (CD).  It seemed that while the stores were selling the CDs groups were still pushing the LPs.  Then the record labels announced NO NEW LPs.

Now the CDs may be on the way out.  In 2008 record labels started releasing music on ScanDisk or SlotMusic.  Before these micro discs became popular, we were introduced to the ease of downloading music.  Downloading is even being champion by those who care the environment and not polluting the planet.

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Imagine the day when you stop by your favorite quartet group’s table and there are no CDs, no DVDs, nothing.  So, the question is are you ready for the new music medium?

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