@lewm
well cared for LP will last virtually forever.
LPs lasting as long as our lifespans IS forever, and as long as needed. After all we can’t take them with us. So for the rest of us believe lewm, for if records last for 50 years they will probably last another 50… and another…...
My LP collection goes right back to my first buy in 1966. Some of the records have been played on every good, bad and ugly turntable l have ever owned. I was taught well, they were handled and stored correctly so are still in good shape. Most sound better than repressed albums from the last few years. LPs in the 60s and early 70s were predominantly pressed on the minimum standard of the day….heavy 180g vinyl.
The limiting factor on digital or vinyl remastered from original tapes calls into question, have those tapes deteriorated over 60 years? No matter how much digital tinkering is done, if there is audio loss over this time no manor of wizardry can put back the missing info.
A good original quality pressing will always be better and more accurate than a digital copy transferred from old oxidised master tapes. It stands to reason, tapes degrade over time more than any other recording medium. The BBC (before digital recordings) realised this and actually re-recorded some of their library archival tapes again onto new stock tapes to prevent further degradation.
So talking of historical recordings only, digital music may have no clicks and plops….play longer…..have no tactile nostalgia, have no monetary value, but are from the start limited to the actual quality of the original source.
LPs from those early days are in all probability the best it gets. It’s just logical!
