Mercury Records label announced last week that it will no longer produce CD and vinyl versions of singles and will now rely almost entirely on downloads. The company will only create physical versions when there is a definite consumer demand and it is guaranteed to make a profit.

Ironically, Mercury Records is home to Sir Elton John, whose “Candle In the Wind ’97” is still the biggest selling single of all time in the UK. The record label also lists amongst it’s contemporary luminaries, U2, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Killers, Stereophonics, Pixie Lott and Razorlight. But for all this array of talent, is Mercury Records guaranteed a future as more and more consumers download their music for free?!! How long before the record labels join their old vinyl records and CDs at the car boot sale?!!

I shall always associate the Mercury Records label with the halcyon days of buying vinyl single records such as 10cc’s “I’m Not in Love” and “I’m Mandy, Fly Me” and Teardrop Explodes “Treason (It’s just a story )”. Mercury Records’ decision marks a symbolic end to the days of music fans heading to record shops and poring over the cover of their favourite seven-inch single or CD sleeve.

The 45rpm single was first introduced in 1949 and has been produced ever since, and although sales have been decimated first by the advent of the CD and then the arrival of downloads, the seven inch vinyl single still holds a cherished place in the hearts of older generations.  With the drop in demand, singles have been increasingly elusive and difficult to buy on the high street. The retail brand most associated with the purchase of the vinyl or CD single, Woolworths, took it’s final bow from the High Street a couple of years ago and the ailing HMV appears to be placing more and more emphasis and shop space on DVDs.

Despite the romanticised return of the vinyl record, sales are miniscule and continually declining. Figures compiled by the Official Charts Company earlier this year bear this out. While total seven-inch vinyl record sales amounted to more than a million in 2006, that figure was down 85% to just 152,000 last year. Twelve-inch singles have fared even worse, down from 1.3 million to just 67,000 in four years.

Ian McCann, the new editor of Record Collector magazine, told the Daily Telegraph: “The major labels have struggled to find a way of coping with the comparatively small runs that a physical single entails and are just not cut out for such business”. He continued: “Record collectors collect records. They might play MP3s on their commute, they might like listening to Spotify or Soundcloud, but they want to own something physical that boasts artwork to pore over. Ian McCann added: “So while this might look like the death knell for the 45 – and it is more a niche market these days – I think we won’t be burying the physical single yet awhile.”

This is very much a sentiment echoed by MyFirstRecord.co.uk – we haven’t given up on the vinyl and CD single!!

You can capture and preserve the era of the  vinyl and CD single, and re-live the memories and the good times, by ordering your favourite vinyl record or CD, framed and mounted, by clicking on…….. http://www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/ …….. and this way your favourite single can be immortalised on your living room wall in 2011!!

Alternatively this would make a unique present or original gift for a special celebration  ie a 40th, 50th or 60th Birthday, a Silver, Ruby or Golden Wedding Anniversary, Father’s or Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day!! THE PERFECT PERSONALISED PRESENT!!