Digitizing Our Music Heritage

The resurgence of vinyl records has followed many paths. From the 'indie' bands, who release colored vinyl or limited edition LP's to the 'classic rock' artists who are re-releasing iconic albums, the role of vinyl records in our music landscape is changing.

Yes, people love their records, but there is a problem with vinyl, it is not portable. In the 'iPod age' music consumers want the convenience of digital music, but there is also a place for their treasured vinyl. In fact, we are seeing more and more ways to 'convert' vinyl to digital formats, to keep up with the digital age. USB turntables are flying off the shelves as well as all sorts of computer programs to help make records portable.

And seizing on this opportunity, there are a multitude of websites being made to allow music consumers to bypass the technical aspects of vinyl conversion to CD or MP3 formats. One such website, www.offtherecord-online.com, is taking advantage of this boon by offering simple 'sound packages' where music lovers can have their vinyl records transferred onto CD or to MP3.

I spoke with Heather of offtherecord-online.com about their new endeavor to provide quality audio transfer services.

"We love music," said Heather. "I play the guitar and love acoustic music, but my husband (Neil) is partial to punk, so we have quite an eclectic array of sounds in our household. We also realize that our customers love their music as well, therefore, we are guided by three simple principles to help bring their music to the 21st century."

"We feel that our customers deserve to relive their music collections without having to max out a credit card, so the first thing we did was make our transfer services affordable," detailed Heather. "Second, you should not have to suffer through a dizzying array of order options, add-ons and other charges, so we have made it very easy and simple; just choose the sound package that fits your needs. Our last principle is that we offer quality service, the customer is not just an order number and we can adapt to a specific need."

I asked Heather why her and her husband decided to 'open shop' and provide this music transfer service.