REWIRE YOURSELF
I doubt if the record companies care, and most consumers aren’t aware, but the quality and durability of plastic records has as much to do with how they’re handled as how they’re manufactured. If you’ve ever pulled out an often played album only to find it scratchy and noisy when played, you’ve experienced the frustration of having one less record in your collection.
REWIRE YOURSELF
HOW TO BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR RECORDS
Richard Robinson
I doubt if the record companies care, and most consumers aren’t aware, but the quality and durability of plastic records has as much to do with how they’re handled as how they’re manufactured. If you’ve ever pulled out an often played album only to find it scratchy and noisy when played, you’ve experienced the frustration of having one less record in your collection. “This record’s getting old, I’ll have to get another copy,” is the typical reaction, as if some outside element had destroyed your favorite album.
The fact is that every time you play a record, you destroy it a little bit, mostly through sheer ignorance of the factors that account for a record’s deterioration. And as I said, the record companies aren’t about to put any information about care and handling on the album jacket, sales are bad enough without helping the record buyer to preserve records. But the truth is there are some very simple handling procedures that will double the life and audible quality of your records.