By: Bryan Zou
Record company Mobile Fidelity (MoFi) has been exposed for using digital files in their premium records.
It started with a record store owner in Phoenix, Arizona, named Mike Esposito. His shop, ‘In’ Groove, has a YouTube channel where he posted a video that exposed MoFi. He said that “pretty reliable sources” informed him that MoFi’s expensive records are made using digital files.
In the audio community, everyone strives to get as close as possible to the original recording of a song. A common taboo is to avoid digital since it doesn’t sound as natural and clear as the original recording. Faking digital records is like committing crime for the community.
MoFi originally started as a company that sold vinyl (a type of record) in the 1980’s. It was founded by Brad Miller in 1977, but declared bankruptcy in 1999, when vinyl sales plummeted. The company was revived when Jim Davis, owner of Music Direct, bought it in 2001. Since then, the company’s sales have steadily increased, especially since vinyl was very popular in 2021.
Many people immediately responded with skepticism. Shane Buettner, owner of Intervention Records said, “I know their process and it’s legit.” He met a MoFi engineer at a recording studio and saw them using an original master tape (original tape used to make copies). Likewise, the dean of audiophile writing, Micheal Fremer, was angered by Esposito’s video, tweeting, “will speculative click bait YouTube videos claiming otherwise be taken down after reading this.” He thought that Esposito irresponsibly spread rumors about MoFi.
Unfortunately, John Wood, MoFi’s executive vice president, knew that Esposito’s video was accurate. He felt crushed as he watched Esposito, a man who really loved MoFi’s vinyls, disappointingly report that their records were digital. John Wood and many other employees supported their original master tape records, and decided to call Esposito over for a tour of MoFi HQ.
The tour resulted in a second video where MoFi’s engineers revealed that Esposito was correct, and MoFi had been lying about their practices through many different methods. Each premium record comes with a thick explanation sheet that details each step of the process to make a record, but intentionally avoids the step where they use digital files. They also avoid talking about it in the many interviews they’ve done.
The response was swift, and many fans felt betrayed and disappointed. Another engineer, Kevin Gray who also makes reissues of famous artists says, “it’s the greatest debacle I’ve ever seen in the vinyl realm.”
Even New York City filmmaker Richard Drutman, who has purchased more than 50 of MoFi’s albums, said, “they were completely deceitful.”
In response, MoFi’s chief marketing officer, Syd Schwartz, issued an apology, “Mobile Fidelity makes great records, the best-sounding records that you can buy. There had been choices made over the years and choices that have led to confusion and anger and a lot of questions, and there were narratives that had been propagating for a while that were untrue or false or myths. We were wrong not to have addressed this sooner.”
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