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Vinyl or analog records have experienced a tremendous upsurge in popularity over the last decade. In this video, DOMINIK BARTMANSKI analyzes the reasons underlying vinyl’s resurgence in an age where digital music seemed destined to wipe it out. Employing methods including discursive analysis and participant observation, Bartmanski highlights several aspects of analog music that its digital counterpart struggles to emulate. Among these, analog music is seen by its fans to deliver a warmer, richer sound and to encourage a more social and serendipitous consumption experience. Arguing that the vinyl revival reveals much about the variability of human needs and experiences, Bartmanski also suggests that it draws into question the assumptions of inevitable linear progress that underlie digitalization.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10762

Researcher

Dominik Bartmanski is a Research Associate in the Department of Sociology at TU Berlin. Having completed his Ph.D. at Yale University, Bartmanski’s main research interests include cultural sociology, urban ethnography, and music sociology. Winner of the International Sociological Association’s Junior Theorist Award in 2012, Dominik Bartmanski has written two books with Ian Woodward: Vinyl: The Analogue Record in the Digital Age (2015) and Labels: Making Independent Music (2019), both published by Bloomsbury.

Original publication

The Vinyl: The Analogue Medium in the Age of Digital Reproduction

Bartmanski Dominik and Woodward Ian
Journal of Consumer Culture
Published in 2015

Labels: Making Independent Music

Bartmanski Dominik and Woodward Ian
Published in 2019