THE RETURN OF VINYL

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Language level: B1 LOWER INTERMEDIATE

 source of the picture topnews.in

The return of vinyl

Life isn’t easy for the music industry these days. Illegal downloads on the internet have destroyed CD sales and artist now depend primarily on concert tours for their income.

Yet there is one piece of good news: according to official figures from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, there is a significant increase in sales of vinyl records.

The “death of vinyl” was announced when CDs came along in the early 1980s. Yet “the vinyl revival” began a few years ago. The trend is believed to have originated with teenagers in New York. They followed in the footstep of dance DJs who preferred its warmer and richer sound. This also led to a boom in new generation turntables.

In 2009 the United States saw a vinyl sales increase of one million records. Today US vinyl sales were almost three million that year. In reality this accounted for less than one per cent  of total music purchases, but it was still good news for the music industry.

In the same year 223.000 vinyl records were sold in the UK. To get an idea, the figure for 2001 was 180.000: the figure for 1979, vinyl’s peak year, was 89 million! Experts say that the 2009 figure could be higher because official statistics do not include sales from smaller records shops and albums sold at concerts.

The positive trend is also confirmed by the fact that major retailer HMV has increased its vinyl “floor space” by 50 per cent over the past two years.

As NIGEL House of Rough Trade explains, young listeners are attracted to vinyl because they love its tactile quality and because it represents a badge of honour, the ultimate proof of loyalty to their favourite artist. It shows that they are serious about music.”

INTERVIEW (audio available)

Standard: British accent

Speaker: Justin Ratcliffe

Language level: C1 ADVANCED.

ROUGH AND READY

With the advent of the CD, or “Compact Disc,” in 1980s, experts said that the “vinyl” gramophone record would die. And then, with the advent of the digital download, the “death of the CD” was also announced. And yet it is difficult to make predictions: today vinyl is enjoying a revival. Last year in the United States more than 2.8 million vinyl records were sold. It was the best result in 20 years, even if it is still a fraction of total music sales.

To find out more, we went to Rough Trade, Britain’s largest independent record shop. Nigel House is co-owner of “Rough Trade East” in London’s Brick Lane. He talked about the vinyl revival, as music played in the background.

Nigel House

(Standard British accent)

No, I think it’s a worldwide phenomenon. I think in America maybe CD sales are going down, but vinyl sales and download sales are going up, so sometimes like…there was an album out by Vampire Weekend last year and I think sometimes like 30 per cent of the sales were download and another 20 per cent were vinyl. And there’s a group called Fucked Up. Who (are) from America, and 50 per cent of their sales where from vinyl.

PERSONALITY

We then asked Nigel House about the reasons for the revival.

Nigel House

Well, I think it’s the complete antithesis of a download because, with a download, it’s great for some things, for a pop single or something, it’s great: click, buy, you’ve got it there and then, but the whole experience of going out and buying something going into a record shop and buying a record, it’s something that’ll live with you forever. I also think that when you get home and you put them on you shelves, or put them on the floor or whatever, when people come round to see you, or to come round for dinner or whatever, it’s part of your personality, it’s part of what you’re about is, you know, in your music collection, or your book collection. Now, that’s why I think there’s always going to be a room for physical product in this world of book and music.

And some musical genres are particular suited to vinyl:

Nigel House

I mean, some music just sounds better on vinyl! Reggae: you cannot listen to reggae on CD or download, you need those crackles, you need that feel of a Studio One record that is thick; thick vinyl, crackles all the way through, but it’s got that feel, you can almost be there in Jamaica!

THE “PUNK” ATTITUDE

Nigel House says that the American rock duo The White Stripes played an important role in the vinyl revival:

The White Stripes had a lot to do with it, they kind of got back to basics. I suppose, with their style or music and they did a lot of singles that were very collectible and they also did a free single with the New Musical Express this was about three - or four years ago – and  that really kick-started the 7-inch market.

People want to do vinyl, groups want to do vinyl because it’s more authentic. I suppose, it’s less “corporate,” and it’s a bit more punk rock, I suppose. It doesn’t have to be punk rock music, but it’s got more attitude. Doing a vinyl pressing, it’s just a bit more “anti-corporate,” I suppose. 

THE ALCOHOL INDUSTRY

"Drinking in moderation."

Source: www.speakup.com.br

Brazil’s national spirit, cachaça, is already the third most consumed liquor in the world, but its export potential may have only scratched the surface now that consumers in the United States ahve taken a liking to the caipirinha.

      There’s more than 40.000 cachaça producers in Brazil and 1.2 billion liters of production capacity, but just 1 per cent exported last year and US$15.58 million in revenue generated.

      About 180 Brazilian producers export to 60 foreign countries, with Germany being the top export market, the U.S. second, Portugal third and Paraguay fourth.

      Germany and much of Europe are markets where cachaça and the caipirinha are well-established, but the growth potential of the U.S. market is huge, and is driven by American consumers love of mixed drinks. Within the last five years, the U.S. has risen from the on. 5 cachaça sales market to no. 2, a rapid increase considering how many Americans still don’t know the drink.

      Cachaça is often compared to rum, but similarities end with their source, sugar cane. Rum is aged from molasses, a byproduct left over after sugar is produced, while cachaça is distilled from fresh squeezed cane juice.

      The U.S. government still fills to respect this difference, and requires cachaça bottles to be labeled “Brazilian rum” to comply with U.S. liquor law. Brazilian cachaça producers have been lobbying the U.S. government for years to give cachaça its own category as unique liquor. It’s the same battle that Mexico’s tequila industry had to fight for many years before, and only won after Americans were educated about tequila’s unique qualities.

      Cachaça producers are trying to learn from tequila’s success. Education starts with bartenders. Leblon Cachaça, a top brand in the U.S. in both revenue and volume sold, has marketing staff visiting bars around the U.S. constantly to teach servers about the caipirinha. Leblon has also created LegalizeCachaça.com, a website to educate consumers and collect signatures to show the U.S. government how many Americans support cachaça.

      Leblon organizes “Caipi Hour” parties that are held at famous bars and restaurants around the nation, and has a “Caipi Mobile” that drives through New York, Los Angeles and Miami, inviting Americans off the street to taste a caipirinha.

      “We’re not just selling a spirit of cocktail, people drink (capirinhas) for a cultural experience,” said Steve Luttmann, president of Leblon Cachaça. “It’s a cheap plane ticket, for most people it’s their first experience with Brazil.”

      Even while Brazilians consume nearly 99% of all cachaça there’s growth potential in Brazil, because some Brazilians still believe that cachaça is a poor man’s drink, says Vitoria Cavalcanti, foreign sales director for Pitú, a top-selling brand at home and abroad.

      “Brazilians drink beer, they drink vodka, but cachaça is still prejudiced by many,” Cavalcanti said. “We have to educate the barmen and waiters here. In Mexico, when you enter a restaurant, the first thing they ask you ifs if you’d like a margarita, or tequila straight. Here, waiters don’t do that. They never mention cachaça or caipirinha has on their own.

      “This is our job, we have to proclaim that cachaça is not for the poor, or the slave, but for everybody.

SUGARCANE INDUSTRY GROWS AT RECORD PACE

      Cachaça production is growing, but according for a small portion of Brazil’s annual sugarcane harvest. Most cane goes towards sugar and ethanol, both of which Brazil leads the world in production of.

      Brazil’s cane industry is primed to meet a seemingly insatiable word demand for both sugar and ethanol in the coming years. Global sugar demand is growing as populations in Asia gain wealth and Brazil ethanol production can’t grow fast enough to meet demand abroad or here at home.

      Flex-fuel car sales in Brazil broke national records in 2010. The country plans to more than double its ethanol production by 2019, from 26 billion liters annually today to 64 billion liters.