Vinyl revival
The vinyl revival, also known as the vinyl resurgence, is the renewed interest and increased sales of vinyl records, or gramophone records, that has been taking place in the music industry. Beginning in 2007,[1][2] vinyl records experienced renewed popularity in the West[3][4][5] and in East Asia.[6][7]
The analogue format made of polyvinyl chloride had been the main vehicle for the commercial distribution of pop music from the 1950s until the 1980s and 1990s when it was largely replaced by the compact disc (CD). Since the turn of the millennium, CDs have been partially replaced by digital downloads and streaming services. However, in 2007, vinyl sales made a sudden small increase, starting its comeback, and by the early 2010s, it was growing at a very quick rate. In some territories, vinyl is now more popular than it has been since the late 1980s, though vinyl records still make up only a marginal percentage (less than 6%) of overall music sales.[8]
The revival peaked in the 2020s decade, with various publications and record stores crediting Taylor Swift with driving vinyl sales.[9][10][11][12] In 2022, Swift's Midnights became the first major album release to have its vinyl sales outpace CDs since 1987,[13][14] with approximately 600,000 sold in the US and 80,000 sold in the UK at the time of the record occurring.[15] In 2023, Swift's re-recorded 1989 (Taylor's Version) became the first album to sell over a million vinyl LPs within a single calendar year in the US.[16] For 2022 the Recording Industry Association of America reported that: "Revenues from vinyl records grew 17% to $1.2 billion – the sixteenth consecutive year of growth – and accounted for 71% of physical format revenues. For the first time since 1987, vinyl albums outsold CDs in units (41 million vs 33 million)."[17]
Along with steadily increasing vinyl sales, the vinyl revival is also evident in the renewed interest in the record shop (as seen by the creation of the annual worldwide Record Store Day), the implementation of music charts dedicated solely to vinyl, and an increased output of films (largely independent) dedicated to the vinyl record and culture.
Reasons[edit]
Records are perceived as more durable, come in significantly larger packaging (allowing more detail in the album art to be visible), and may include bonus items absent from a CD copy of the same album (for example, a poster or clothing article, or exclusive liner notes). These factors can cause a CD to be seen as a poor value even if an LP is more expensive.[44][19]
CDs are capable of more accurate sound reproduction and are effectively free of noise and sound artifacts,[55] but many listeners find records' imperfections more subjectively pleasant than digital audio.[44][32] The rise in vinyl demand also correlates with the rise in popularity of streaming services throughout the 2010's, with many listeners choosing to purchase a beloved album on vinyl after discovering it on Spotify or Apple Music.[56] Records are also tactile, physical, collectable items that offer a drastically different listening experience than the ubiquitous streaming services.[57]
In spite of many record sales being modern artists or genres, records may be considered a part of retro style, benefiting from a general cultural interest in the technology and media of the past.[58]
According to Adriaan Neervoort, owner of Wanted Music, in Beckenham, Kent, "Vinyl has a more engaging human sound, it comes beautifully packaged. People want to know more about music and they want to engage with it more."[12]
Global vinyl sales in US$
US vinyl sales in units
UK vinyl sales in units
UK vinyl sales in UK£
UK Official Record Store Chart[edit]
The Official Record Store Chart is a weekly music chart based on physical sales of albums in almost 100 independent record stores in the United Kingdom.[125][126] It is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), and each week's number one is first announced on Sunday evenings on the OCC's official website.
The chart's launch was first announced by the OCC on 17 April 2012[127] – at the time, British record stores were selling 4.5 million albums per year, and were contributing towards 95 per cent of the country's total vinyl sales.
Nomenclature debate[edit]
Arising within the renewed popularity of vinyl records, there is a small debate over the issue of how they should properly be referred to in English. While many refer to them as "records" or "LPs", sometimes they are referred to as "vinyl", an informal term derived from its material composition. The disagreement arises over how the word "vinyl" is used. Those who remember the vinyl records' original popularity in the 1980s and before, use the term "vinyl" in context such as "I have that album on vinyl", and also when using it in the plural, e.g. "I have a huge collection of vinyl". Those whose experience with records is only during the more recent revival, have developed a different way of using the word, referring to vinyl records in the plural as "vinyls", as well as using the indefinite article "a", such as saying "I need to go buy a vinyl". Arguments are made based on the rules of language, and whether "vinyls" could be a proper way of referring to records in the plural. On the "vinyls" side, a key argument is whether vinyl is a "mass noun": "These nouns — such as cheese, beer and wine — refer to stuff that comes in variable but conceptually undifferentiated quantities that are measured rather than counted."[128]