# Records are black **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 6, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403 "2023-02-06T22:45:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/1 "2023-02-06T22:45:31Z")
I’ve been buying records for decades. With few exceptions, they were always black. But now, often as not, they are different colors. Red, green, yellow, clear, any color you can think of and sometimes several smooshed together - that was sort of a novelty once. But now it isn’t. Records are black. We aren’t children. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/2 "2023-02-06T22:50:38Z")
I distinctly remember buying a blue vinyl Beatles LP back in the 70’s, and I’m pretty sure I had some colored vinyl 45s as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/3 "2023-02-06T22:56:13Z")
Well sure. But those were rare. Now it’s gotten way out of hand. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/4 "2023-02-06T23:09:03Z")
I suspect that black is simply the cheapest, but now that the only people who buy vinyl are hipsters who have more money than sense, they can easily recoup the cost of the different colors of vinyl by increasing prices. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/5 "2023-02-06T23:09:44Z")
They’re probably doing whatever it takes to attract the customers. What color is an MP3? ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/6 "2023-02-06T23:50:57Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > I suspect that black is simply the cheapest, but now that the only people who buy vinyl are hipsters who have more money than sense, they can easily recoup the cost of the different colors of vinyl by increasing prices Very good. Get it all out of your system. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/7 "2023-02-06T23:52:22Z")
Records are cylindrical! What is it with these hipsters, insisting on their flat “records”? ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/8 "2023-02-06T23:56:15Z")
Apparently there is some sort of dislike of “hipsters”. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/9 "2023-02-07T00:19:14Z")
Does anybody remember picture discs? Are those still around or have made a comeback, respectively? ETA: to add something more on topic: I seem to remember that the audiophiles back in the days sneered at non-black records because allegedly their sound quality was inferior. I don’t know if there was any substance to this. ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/10 "2023-02-07T00:35:44Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Records are cylindrical! What is it with these hipsters, insisting on their flat “records”? All the cool cats insist on cassette tapes, so that they can walk down the street with a boombox on their shoulder. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/11 "2023-02-07T00:38:53Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Records are cylindrical! Bah! In my day, we had soot covered paper, and we liked it! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uBL7V3zGMUA/hqdefault.jpg "The first known recording of a human voice, from April 9th, 1860. (Phonautograph Etching)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBL7V3zGMUA) ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/12 "2023-02-07T00:48:25Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Does anybody remember picture discs? I still have The Who’s “Athena” on picture disk! I may have others…still wading through the old collection. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/13 "2023-02-07T00:54:58Z")
Speaking as a (former) radio dj, I hate the colored vinyl albums. They are notoriously hard to cue. You think it’s hard finding the start of a track on a black album? Try blue, white, or (God forbid) clear. Yes, clear. One of the artists we played all the time at my college station released his songs on see-through vinyl. Even better, the bastard put his 45’s on 12 inch discs instead of the usual 7 inch ones. You’d get the song all ready to go and then play it at the wrong speed because the damn thing was a 45, not a 331/3. Fun times. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/14 "2023-02-07T00:55:24Z")
Records were black because it was the cheapest and simplest way to color the disks. Other colors were possible, but it meant you had to stop production to clean the equipment, which slowed output. Dave Mason’s _Alone Together_ (1970) was multicolored. [![](https://bestclassicbands.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/13413714_1386991454650873_4353821693177501218_n-290x300.jpg) ](https://bestclassicbands.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/13413714_1386991454650873_4353821693177501218_n-290x300.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/15 "2023-02-07T01:32:40Z")
I have dozen or so “Trade Mark Of Quality” bootlegs on red, yellow, green and blue vinyl. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/16 "2023-02-07T01:36:07Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Does anybody remember picture discs? Are those still around or have made a comeback, respectively? > > ETA: to add something more on topic: I seem to remember that the audiophiles back in the days sneered at non-black records because allegedly their sound quality was inferior. I don’t know if there was any substance to this. I was convinced. I had a picture disc of _Who Are You?_ and the title song sounded lousy compared to the same recording on “The Kids Are Alright” soundtrack. I never bought a colored or picture disc after that. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/17 "2023-02-07T01:55:02Z")
Colored records aren’t a new thing. In the 1930s Columbia produced royal blue 78s as a marketing gimmick. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/18 "2023-02-07T02:29:28Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > What color is an MP3? Wow. Heavy, man! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/19 "2023-02-07T02:30:45Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > What color is an MP3? #000000. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403/20 "2023-02-07T02:42:53Z")
I picture MP3 as a pale blue, AAC is orange, WAV is bright white, OGG is a dirty gray, FLAC is green, and Apple’s AIFF is a rainbow of primary colors, like a beachball. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/records-are-black/979403.md?page=2)