VOA慢速英语--70年前LP唱片改变了音乐产业

70 Years Ago, LP Records Changed Music Industry

Seventy years ago this week something important happened in music history: the first LP, or long-playing vinyl record, was introduced.

At the time, the LP was a new kind of record that let people listen to longer pieces of music. And it changed the way people listened to music.

Columbia Records first introduced the LP in 1948. To celebrate this year’s anniversary, the British music company HMV and the music company Sony Classical recreated 500 copies of the first performance recorded to an LP.

The recording¹ was of a piece of classical music: Mendelssohn’s Concerto² in E minor³. Violinist Nathan Milstein performed the music with the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra.

All the copies of the LP are to be given away to fans, except for one, which will be donated to the British Library.

The record adds to the library’s collection of 250,000 LPs, most of which were released in Britain. The museum has other musical artifacts going back to the beginning of sound recording. These include wax cylinders⁵, created by Thomas Edison in 1877. They were the first way fans could buy music to listen to at home.

Andy Linehan is a curator of popular music in the British library, who received the new LP donation.

“The fact that the long-playing record came into existence was a huge step for music sound recording and for the listener,” Linehan said.

He added, “Previously you could only get 3 minutes or so onto one side of a record and now because you had a narrower groove⁶ and a slower speed, you could get up to 20 minutes, which meant...you could get a whole package of songs together on one record.”

This week’s anniversary comes at a time when vinyl records have started to become popular again. In Britain, vinyl records are only 7 percent of album sales, but they are popular with fans of all ages.

The British Phonographic Industry, or BPI, says that vinyl LP sales rose to 4.1 million last year from 205,292 in 2007.

Gennaro Castaldo is communications director for BPI. He said: “Vinyl is popular because people see it more (as an) artifact rather than (a) utility.” He said that people love the tradition of buying records and then playing them at home.

He added, “The sound quality is much warmer, richer and people appreciate that.”

Rock music is still the best-selling kind of music for vinyl records. Last year, the biggest selling LP in Britain was Ed Sheeran’s “Divide” album. Older LPs, such as Amy Winehouse’s “Back To Black” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours,” were also in the top 10.

Simon Winter heads public relations and events for HMV. He said the LP business is growing.

“Our record stores are stocking more vinyl than we’ve ever stocked in terms of the last 10 years,” Winter said.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

artifact - n. a simple object (such as a tool or weapon) that was made by people in the past?

curator - n. a person who is in charge of the things in a museum, zoo, etc.?

cylinder⁴ - n. a shape that has straight sides and two circular ends ?

groove - n. a long, narrow cut or low area in a surface?

record - n. a flat, round disc on which sound or music is recorded?

utility - n. the quality or state of being useful?

vinyl - n. a plastic material that is used to make records, clothing, etc., and as a covering for floors, walls, furniture, etc?

wax - n. a hard substance that becomes soft when it is heated and that is used to make various products

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 concerto   

n.协奏曲

参考例句：

• The piano concerto was well rendered.钢琴协奏曲演奏得很好。
• The concert ended with a Mozart violin concerto.音乐会在莫扎特的小提琴协奏曲中结束。

3 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

4 cylinder   

n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸

参考例句：

• What's the volume of this cylinder?这个圆筒的体积有多少？
• The cylinder is getting too much gas and not enough air.汽缸里汽油太多而空气不足。

5 cylinders   

n.圆筒( cylinder的名词复数 )；圆柱；汽缸；（尤指用作容器的）圆筒状物

参考例句：

• They are working on all cylinders to get the job finished. 他们正在竭尽全力争取把这工作干完。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That jeep has four cylinders. 那辆吉普车有4个汽缸。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 groove   

n.沟，槽；凹线，（刻出的）线条，习惯

参考例句：

• They're happy to stay in the same old groove.他们乐于墨守成规。
• The cupboard door slides open along the groove.食橱门沿槽移开。