Well, I never thought I’d see one of those famous Wall Street Journal dot-art pictures of Jeff Tweedy, frontman of Wilco. But here it is. The story’s (subscription required) about the last maker of reel-to-reel tape filing for bankruptcy:

Jeff Tweedy, leader of the rock group Wilco, prefers to record music on reel-to-reel tape rather than on the digital equipment that has overtaken the music industry. Purists like him think it confers a warmth and richness to recordings that a computer cannot.

But last Friday, Mr. Tweedy hit a snag as he prepared for a session in Wilco’s Chicago studio space: Nobody could find any of the professional-grade audio tape the band is accustomed to using. “I was under the impression that there was a shortage of tape in Chicago,” Mr. Tweedy says.

What he didn’t yet realize was that the shortage is global. Quantegy Inc., which may be the last company in the world still manufacturing the high-quality tape, abruptly shut down its Opelika, Ala., plant on Dec. 31, leaving audiophiles in the lurch.

Quantegy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday and hopes a restructuring will eventually revive its operations. But its future is uncertain, inasmuch as demand also is dwindling for its videotape.

The news has set off a frantic scramble in the music industry as producers and studios seek to secure as much Quantegy tape as possible. By the middle of last week, most suppliers around the country had sold out their entire stocks of reel-to-reel audio tape.

…

Quantegy is hearing from customers all over the world trying to secure the professional-grade tape. A Japanese musician e-mailed from Tokyo, eager to get more for a recording session. Richard Lindenmuth, Quantegy’s president and chief executive, says he’ll try to help. Some customers are trying to organize their own bailouts of his company. Andrew Kautz, president of the Society of Professional Audio Recording Services, called Mr. Lindenmuth Friday hoping to get a one-time special order, a request Mr. Lindenmuth is considering.

So, the company may be bailed out, but Tweedy has a backup plan:

Looking ahead to a tape-starved future, Mr. Tweedy has a fallback: The band has an archive of around 100 reels of tape it has used in recording its various albums. By splicing out and saving the final version of each song, he figures they can maintain the archive and also generate a supply of tapes that can be recycled for future recording sessions.

Still, Mr. Tweedy jokes, if the tape scarcity continues, even some of the archived recordings might become expendable. “I’m just fearful that all the master tapes at the loft would be worth more if they were blank,” he says.

Chances are, production of this kind of tape does have a market and thus will survive in some form. But it’s going to get pretty expensive for its few adherents.

Goddamned capitalism.

Oh wait, this is a story of capitalism working. Cheaper, more flexible digital recording technology has opened up the music market to thousands and thousands of bands and independent musicians who are able to record albums much more cheaply now — in their basements, if they like. And the big-name rock bands, like Wilco, who want the boutique-y stuff, will likely find a way to get it.

Yay, capitalism!