Andre Gray, the man from Belize who is credited with inventing mobile ringtones, has delighted vinyl fans by launching three new high-quality vinyl record formats for collectors and “elitist audiophiles”.
Don’t expect the crackles and hissing that often marred those retro 45s and 12-inch discs – thanks to groundbreaking innovations in the materials used to create the vinyl. Record fans will benefit from a new clarity never experienced before.
Gray, who also runs his own popular social media site, iBelizean, has created an improved format that produces high-quality sound. His Microgrooves Green T vinyl, Microgrooves Digital and Microgrooves HD record formats join his previous creations – including Microgrooves Electronic, the world’s first mobile phone music player, in July 1998. As inventions they will enhance the lives of millions of music-lovers across the globe.
Symbolic change
It is said to be the biggest improvement in vinyl records’ sound quality in years, Gray describes it as “symbolic of an epochal change”, while his Twitter account labelled it the “Vinyl Countdown” in the run-up to the launch.
To achieve the desired outcome, Gray looked at several aspects of the record pressing process: weight, height, closer and deeper microgrooves – and some rather unusual additives: fish oil, and, for the Green T version, green tea liquid extract. The new vinyl is available for 7-inch and 12-inch vinyl formats.
In a move that will benefit vinyl fans everywhere, Gray isn’t claiming intellectual property rights! Instead, he’s giving away the Microgrooves vinyl design absolutely free to anyone who wishes to use it. All he requests is that a sticker logo which he designed is included on the record sleeve, indicating which of the three Microgrooves has been used to manufacture the record.
Earlier inventions
Gray, an MBA graduate of Kent University in Canterbury, United Kingdom, is well known as the inventor of the 1991 Electronic Ticket; the 1995 Electronic Press Kit; the first mobile phone music player, Microgrooves Electronic, in 1998; and Online Music Sales Certifications in 1999.
He is also credited with uploading the first ever complete song on the internet, entitled “Internet Killed the Video Star” in MIDI format on 8th August 1988. He had written the song himself and it heralded the start of the online digital music revolution.
Social networking
Gray founded the Digital and Electronic Music Organisation Inc (known as DEMO) in October 1999 as a web-based company giving out online and digital music sales certification awards on a worldwide scale.
He created Demo 2.0 in May 2015, a video sharing social network aimed at musicians. In June 2015, he launched his social media site, iBelizean.
In 2002, Gray was awarded the Johannes Gutenberg Inventor Prize, thanks to his revolutionary inventions, which were heralded as having left a on the world.
He has been hailed as one of the greatest inventors of all time.