Fine Art Recordings Boss Nitzan Hermon is a man on a mission to protect that most threatened of formats, the vinyl. For years there has been talk of a vinyl revival, of growing 7″ sales and renewed interest, but the reality for most record labels is very different. The spate of closures amongst London’s established record shops over the past decade points towards an overall decline in sales. In today’s harsh economic climate there is a genuine possibility that the wax on which the art of DJing is based, and the last surviving hope for analogue sound, will become extinct. I caught up with Nitzan to find out where he thinks the format is heading.

Fine Art Recordings Boss Nitzan Hermon

B: Does vinyl still have a role to play in music today?

N: I think so yes, although it is not clear how far does it stretch beyond the big (Eu) cities DJ scene. I was recently chatting to a friend who pointed out that it is really just a promotional tool, to increase awareness for a label/release and just differentiate itself from the current, arguably saturated pool, of digital label. I think the crunch is also pushing people to seek for sustainable formats. MP3s are by their efficient, digital nature, a little too abstract for some people these days, which is the reason why new physical only labels are popping up all over the place.

B: Why has demand for vinyl just about survived, but demand for tape disappeared completely in the last ten years?

N: I think that it has a lot to do with the target audience. The first has won itself a die-hard, concrete audience of DJ/music people whereas the latter was just the music consumption for the masses tool of its time.

B: Are there still formats waiting to be invented which will make up for the shortcomings of digital downloads?

N: I think that it is not a mere question of format but rather a combo of enhancements of format and an accordingly enhanced shop. The whole problem with mp3s these days (which i think is why vinyl purists are still not convinced) is mainly focused with the meta data, but in a wider meaning than feeding in artist name/label etc. Vinyl by its very nature is emotionally engaging, not solely due to its physicality, but also because of the backlog it encompasses , the silent reference to the label’s projects, affiliated artists, geography and so on. I also think that further development will be made into videos, which is a good place to mention that I will be starting a video label later this year which will supply video content for both personal and VJ use.

Nitzan Hermon runs Fine Art Recordings and Save The Vinyl