The Sound of Vinyl today
launched in the U.S. with a first-of-its-kind music service that provides a
personalized and curated platform for discovering and buying vinyl records.
The Sound of
Vinyl (http://thesoundofvinyl.us)
provides a powerful and convenient solution to help music enthusiasts discover
vinyl and build their record collections. The service offers new and classic
albums from a vast catalog of over 20,000 titles from all major labels and
dozens of indie labels. In addition to being a full-service online store, The
Sound of Vinyl provides an innovative recommendation engine that suggests
albums based on a user's personal tastes, and features exclusive content and
album suggestions from top music experts.
The Sound of
Vinyl's recommendation service uses cutting-edge technology to send
personalized album picks by text message. When a user enters their mobile phone
number and creates a taste profile, The Sound of Vinyl begins sending daily
texts with album recommendations that feature album artwork, information and
price. Users can reply LIKE or DISLIKE to improve future picks, or simply reply
YES to instantly buy an album, creating a seamless shopping experience. The
service is powered by Seattle-based startup MessageYes.
The Sound of
Vinyl will also host exclusive vinyl records from rock, jazz and classical to
R&B, rap and hip-hop. Limited edition color variations of albums by
Arrested Development, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Iggy Pop, KISS,
Grand Funk, and The Go-Gos are slated for release, with more titles launching
every month. Quantities are extremely limited; recent exclusives by Interpol
and ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead sold out in less than a week.
Additionally,
The Sound of Vinyl's website will host exclusive content from music experts
including Henry Rollins, Young Guru, Don Was, Ahmet Zappa, and more,
as well as artists, producers, radio DJs, and music journalists. The website
will also feature videos, interviews, editorial, and hand-picked album
recommendations. More content will be available on The Sound of Vinyl's blog
and social media channels.
Henry
Rollins, punk rock icon and accomplished author, and Gimel "Young
Guru" Keaton, renowned audio engineer and DJ, are The Sound of Vinyl's
first featured vinyl curators. Rollins will recommend his favorite albums,
share stories from his life in punk rock, and interview music veterans like
producer Don Was and legendary Capitol Studios vinyl mastering engineer Ron
McMaster. Young Guru will tap into his experience engineering music for iconic
artists like Jay Z, Beyoncé, and Alicia Keys, as well as his deep history
as a DJ and producer, to showcase albums that form the foundation of his work.
"Vinyl
is the ultimate delivery medium for music's limitless greatness," Rollins
says. "I came into music via vinyl, and that's how I'm going out! The
Sound of Vinyl allows music enthusiasts of all levels of interest or experience
to not only get records easily, but to learn about every aspect of vinyl from
extraordinarily unique and informed sources."
Young Guru
added, "Since the earliest days of DJs mixing on turntables, vinyl has
played an important role in hip-hop's evolution. So many of the albums that
built hip-hop's foundation were intended to be heard and experienced on vinyl.
I'm excited to cast new light on some of these iconic albums and give fans new
insights into classic records that built hip-hop." The Sound of
Vinyl was created by Universal Music Enterprises, the global catalog division
of Universal Music Group (UMG), the global leader in music-based entertainment.
Michele
Anthony, Executive Vice President of UMG, said, "Until today, music fans
haven't had a personalized and curated experience for discovering and buying
vinyl albums. Sound of Vinyl solves that problem for consumers by providing
daily suggestions tailored to their individual tastes, recommendations from
music experts and exclusive albums and merchandise that can't be found anywhere
else. With Sound of Vinyl, music fans will have a simple, easy and engaging
service that provides instant access to the very best in vinyl."
"The
passion for the vinyl experience remains contagious, and now, with Sound of
Vinyl, fans will have a unique and accessible way to discover and buy vinyl
albums tailored to their music tastes, without a membership fee," Bruce
Resnikoff, President and CEO of Universal Music Enterprises, UMG's global
catalog division. "Of all the music formats out there, vinyl most closely
reflects the artist's original vision for the quality and experience of
listening to an entire album. It's an experience that demands a listener's
attention and provides a robust physical connection to the artist and
music."