YouTube Phenomena Lesson 2: Videos of Records

So I started this series of posts calling the subject matter "internet subcultures" but I've realized they are more easily classifiable as YouTube phenomena. The phenomena are sub-cultural, though the videos may not represent a specific subcultural group. Today's lesson is on videos of records.

Sometimes, when searching for a video or performance of a specific song, typically mid-20th century, you'll find a video of a turntable playing the song. It's basically an easy way to share a song. The songs that are played are usually, but not necessarily, out of print or hard to find. For someone without equipment for record digitization, recording a quick video requires very few steps to share a track via the internet. Here is a typical video, "Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals.



You see a flash of the label at the beginning and then a hand, presumably the video-maker's, reaches in, setting down the record and placing the needle down to play the song. This format is typical of a video maker that does minimal editing of the raw footage. The purpose of videos like these is rudimentary so most of the footage is unedited.

Up next is a recording of "Four on the Floor" by the Super Stocks. This video-maker gets a little more creative, showing off the album artwork and self-consciously zooming in and out on the record player.



In the notes for the above video, the YouTube member mentions that the track is being played on a 1956 Philco E-1762 floor model turntable. This is not really necessary considering the horrendous loss of sound quality on YouTube videos. The poster of "The He Kissed Me" doesn't mention any specifications of the recording other than the dated it was recorded, but does field questions in comments about his record player or reissues of the song.

Up next is a 1928 recording of Harry Bidgood & His Broadcasters. The record is badly damaged, but the video gives YouTube users a chance to hear a recording they wouldn't otherwise. A true record snob, or so I imagine based on the stereotype I learned from Ghost World, might consider digitization to bastardize the recording, much less a low quality YouTube video like this one. This video is particularly psychedelic and even has some video effects for the introduction.



So, this concludes lesson two of the series on YouTube phenomena. Though it's not a particularly unusual or intriguing trend in web video use, I think it's a phenomena that deserves mention. A close cousin to the record player video, the slide show music video will be featured in another lesson.