Record Store Day at Mill No. 5

I find the resurgence of vinyl recordings a little bewildering.  Honestly, I don't remember my turntable all that fondly.  You could only play one side of an album before you had to get up and flip it over, the records got damaged very easily and the clicks and pops of the needle always annoyed me. I still have my turntable and my record collection but more for the emotional attachment than any great love for the format.

However, I went to a Record Store day event yesterday at Mill No. 5 in Lowell and it was fun and the people were very cool.  But it was also a bit sad because I don't see how getting nostalgic for an out-of-date technology will work in the long run to rebuilding the musical communities that were the local-record-store.

The digital genie is out of the bottle.  If it's not Spotify or other existing service, it will be a new one that is future of music delivery..  Hopefully both compensation for the artists and audio quality will improve over time, both are needed, but regardless as a delivery mechanism and a way for exploring music,  digital deliver cannot be beat. 

The funny thing is, I think places like Mill No. 5 itself are the real solution to recapturing the community feeling that everyone misses from the demise of the record store. Mill No. 5 is a great multifunction space that supports all kinds of artistic ventures.  It's been pretty exciting watching it grow over the past few months.

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