In our latest poll at HeraldNet.com, we asked for your all-time favorite music format. Let’s break it down, MC Hammer-style:
CDs (35 percent of the vote): They have high-quality sound and cool liner notes, can be 70 minutes long and are fairly indestructible. What’s not to love? Well, the old longboxes were an environmental atrocity, but otherwise not much. CD sales peaked in 2000, when NSYNC’s “No Strings Attached” ruled the charts. It may not be a coincidence that it was a nosedive from there.
Vinyl albums (also 35 percent): People love vinyl; it just oozes coolness. But there are some downsides. Needles break, albums scratch, skip and warp over time, and you can’t really play them in your car. Why do we love vinyl again? Sales peaked in 1976, led by “Frampton Comes Alive!” and its 14-minute version of “Do You Feel Like We Do.” The ‘70s were weird.
Digital downloads (21 percent): Music can be stored, shared and conveniently transported anywhere. The only minor drawback has been the utter devastation of the music industry. Digital sales are still climbing each year, which is why they are driving such nice cars at Apple Inc.
8-track tapes (4 percent): Briefly in the late 1970s, 8-tracks were your mom’s way to torture you with Jim Croce songs on an endless loop in the family station wagon. Maybe that was just me.
Cassettes (4 percent): These were handier for the car and awesome on the Walkman, plus you could impress a girl with a great mixtape. It looks like the love for them is gone, maybe because they constantly unraveled. Sales peaked in 1988, when George Michael was on top of the world with “Faith.”
Some things never go out of style.
— Doug Parry, Herald Web editor: dparry@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @parryracer.
For our next poll, we’d like to know where you stand on an idea for a state income tax.
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