Total Immersion
When the record industry moved from mono to stereo in the ’50s and ’60s, it entered a golden age. Fans enjoyed a better listening experience, and the new LP format enabled artists to be more ambitious. Labels profited from massive growth, studios flourished and ‘rock star’ became a bona fide profession.
Sam Inglis, Sound On Sound's Editor In Chief.Photo: JG HardingHowever, when the industry tried to repeat the trick in the ’70s, audiences shunned quadraphonic audio. Attempts to popularise 5.1 surround as a music listening format in the early 2000s likewise met with limited success. So, as today’s music business falls over itself to hype ‘immersive audio’, a bit of scepticism is forgivable. Consumers weren’t willing to spend money then in order to hear bits of Pink Floyd coming from behind them, or Super Furry Animals doing circuits of the living room. Why should things be different now?