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| Vinyl makes comeback for younger generation |
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Progress in the 1980s meant CDs were replacing vinyl. Not only did we buy the new releases on CD, over the next decade we went wild buying our old favorites on CD as the budget allowed, replacing our vinyl LPs. It didn’t make much sense to have both a turntable and CD player so we donated the turntable to Goodwill along with a stash of records (although for many of us, separating ourselves from the stash took years longer.)
Fast forward to 2003 when Apple launched its iTunes Music Store; downloads soared and CD sales began to slide. Fast forward again to last month when Nielsen SoundScan, the entertainment industry’s data keeper, reported that new CD sales were down nearly 13 percent in 2010 and digital download sales were just flat.
What was up was new vinyl sales, 14 percent – still a drop in the sales bucket at 1 percent of total sales, but impressive growth. Seventy-one percent of vinyl was purchased in independent music stores.
The record stores that survived the big box competition with their low-priced CDs are once again a favorite hang-out for vintage vinyl and new vinyl releases.
In the last few years, newspapers have written nostalgic stories about music lovers’ preference for the analog sound over the digital. Young people are slowly removing their ear buds and enjoying the sounds in a group setting again, and older audiophiles continue to shell out big bucks for new limited pressings from the original masters on heavier-weight vinyl.
I recommend Record Store Days, From Vinyl to Digital and Back Again, by Gary Calamar and Phil Gallo, Sterling, 2009, for your reading pleasure — regardless of your age.
The chapter on vinyl revival has some great quotes about both new and vintage vinyl sales from record store owners around the country, including Paul Epstein, owner of Twist & Shout, Denver, who predicted rock records from the 1990s would be the new collectible because vinyl is scarce from that decade.
Epstein’s comments led me to his website and blog.
His year-end wrap-up post titled “Several Species OF Small Furry Thoughts,” is worth a visit. In part it says: “So what physical stuff did we sell this year? Vinyl Vinyl Vinyl. It is not a flash in the pan! It is back in a significant way... Over and over this year, I saw kids with that libidinous glow of pride as they approached the register with an LP or seven-inch by their favorite band ... Of course, the limited nature of most vinyl issues insures that they will go up in value. Some of our biggest successes on eBay this year have been with records that are less than five years old.”
For additional information, contact: www.twistandshout.com |
| 2/16/2011 |
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