'Steve Jobs Listened to Vinyl,' Reports Neil Young
Steve Jobs apparently listened not to his own iPod but to vinyl records, according to Neil Young.
In an interview at News Corp's D: Dive Into Media conference, Young told reporters that Jobs "was a pioneer of digital music, but when he went home, he listened to vinyl." Apple was at the forefront of turning the world on to digital music, with its iTunes library and Garage Band recording system.
Yet that has led to problems, according to Young, as sound quality is often compromised for the sake of producing an mp3 tract. "My goal is to rescue the art for that I've been practicing for about 50 years. The problem is that there's no alternative."
Records and record players are beginning to make a comeback. USA Today reported one year ago: "vinyl was the fastest-growing musical format in 2010, with 2.8 million units sold, the format's best year since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991."
Tim Cretsinger, owner of a record store in Utah, told USA Today, "There's something organic and historical about playing music that way. It sounds better. Vinyl seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who have hung in there. It's kind of a surprising light at the end of the tunnel. It's incredibly exciting."
NielsonWire reported, "Vinyl sales increased 37 percent in the beginning of 2011, and 2011 saw the most successful Record Store Day in the event's four-year history."
Record Store Day began in 2008 as a way to improve record sales at independent stores. It occurs on the third Saturday in April and brings out the biggest fans hoping to score unique or limited-edition records.
During the same interview, Young addressed the growing problem of piracy. "Piracy is the new radio. I look at the Internet as the new radio. I look at the radio as gone."
Young himself is a music legend, working with such groups as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Crazy Horse and other legends like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. He was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm in 2005 but didn't let that stop him from performing. He is currently at work reclaiming unreleased material and performing hits from his latest album, "A Treasure."
