Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

[Sal1950]

So you missed out on giving someone a mixtape?

Yep, it was never my thing.
I did own a Pioneer 707 RTR tape player for a while but lost interest due to
the lack of available high quality prerecorded tapes, and using it to record and play back
borrowed LP's turned out to be a bigger PITA than I ever imagined. Not counting the cost
of HQ blank tape.

 

[DSJR]

This is where I came in as of 1958 and an 'Auto Deccalian 88' with Collaro Conquest changer with this later style 'overarm.' I can watch the Conquest changer and immediate descendants all day - sad aren't I

Later versions by Magnavox limited the arms' back and forth traverse movement, fixing on the three standard disc sizes and slowing the rapid stylus drop with the time saved I'm sure you lot are fascinated

 

[Axo1989]

Like..."Look at me, and listen to my ear-splitting sound, I'm riding a cool Harley"?

When were Harleys cool? Has there been a rennaisance?

 

[beagleman]

In 2022, 41 million vinyl units were sold compared to 33 million CDs, highlighting a "remarkable resurgence" of the physical music format, per the report released Thursday. Vinyl records made up a total of 70% of all physical music sales in 2022, bringing in a total of $1.2 billion in revenue, according to RIAA.Mar 9, 2023


Funny bias?

But PHYSICAL music sales overall are tiny.

I am not even sure why we are talking about this. Both CD and VINYL are niche markets, no matter how you look at it or spin it.

 

[beagleman]

In 2022, 41 million vinyl units were sold compared to 33 million CDs, highlighting a "remarkable resurgence" of the physical music format, per the report released Thursday. Vinyl records made up a total of 70% of all physical music sales in 2022, bringing in a total of $1.2 billion in revenue, according to RIAA.Mar 9, 2023


Funny bias?

When vinyl sold the same amount as today in the 90s it was called DEAD.

Today we are acting like it is some huge sales figures, but decades ago it was called what it was........
Why is it huge sales TODAY< but was called dead in the 90s?

 

[thecheapseats]

...But PHYSICAL music sales overall are tiny.... ...I am not even sure why we are talking about this...

exactly...

 

[beagleman]

exactly...

And I have asked this before....

I saw a local Goodwill store weed out all the lame crap albums from the 60s and 70s and literally they threw (Many) boxes in a huge dumpster.

If it is so alive and back, it must be like the same 250 titles most are buying, as it looks like 98% of past music, no one has any interest in, old vinyl.
It has to be Hendrix, Beatles, Floyd, or Led Zep Bob Marley, Steely Dan, and/or a couple dozen other classic rock groups.

Most older vinyl gets thrown out...lol

 

[levimax]

I am not even sure why we are talking about this. Both CD and VINYL are niche markets, no matter how you look at it or spin it.

Hi-Fi is very small niche market so should we not talk about it?

 

[MattHooper]

Hi-Fi is very small niche market so should we not talk about it?

Not to mention vinyl clearly has a much more significant presence the public consciousness and in pop culture that our hobby certainly doesn't have. We are almost invisible compared even to the vinyl revival.

 

[JP]

Vintage NOS 1960s ARC 2500 RCA AP-1 Under-Dash 45 RPM Record Player Changer 12V | eBay

It is 12 VDC and the mono audio output connects to any existing car radio system through the antenna connection. It is in mint, perfect NOS condition with box as shown. This will make a wonderful addition to anyone's collection.

www.ebay.com

Do you think it'll fit?

 

[thecheapseats]

...Most older vinyl gets thrown out...lol...

imo - looking forward several (or more) decades, the LP titles which will be in demand are the jazz, classical or other-style works that stand the test of time as substantive art - and are works which were never digitized/re-released for streaming or whatever the next audio form-factor might be in the future... the well known artist/titles you mention above which are culled from a 'dumpster-meat' fate today don't fall into that category... time wil tell - the calendar is the great arbiter...

 

[Justdafactsmaam]

Upwards and Onwards...still renaissancing...

Vinyl sales up nearly 15 per cent in 2023​

Vinyl sales up nearly 15 per cent in 2023

Artists including Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey and Blur have aided the sales

www.nme.com

Can anyone explain a near 300 page argument over personal preferences? Rhetorical question. Can anyone explain why some audiophiles’ preference for vinyl is such a trigger for some other audiophiles?

 

[thecheapseats]

...Can anyone explain a near 300 page argument over personal preferences?...

no - it defies explanation....

 

[Anton D]

Can anyone explain a near 300 page argument over personal preferences? Rhetorical question. Can anyone explain why some audiophiles’ preference for vinyl is such a trigger for some other audiophiles?

Less filling vs. tastes great.

 

[Robin L]

Can anyone explain a near 300 page argument over personal preferences?

 

[Anton D]

View attachment 325824

Perfect!

Proper age group, too!

 

[Galliardist]

Wow, here you make a more interesting and challenging point. Please tell me you don't see today's sales of records as a continuation of what ever was happening in the 70' (or 1958)? That's almost like "our forefathers" speech, like politician's rhetoric. As if you're trying to push something through Congress.

The gist of it; buying a record today = putting a crackling effect on a digital recording.

People didn't buy records in the 70' as a choice. Or to make someone listen through a whole album (I can't get over how silly this argument is), or because it's a lifestyle or retro or because "it has a more natural sound". You were buying it as neutral, common, everyday object. Like bread was before sliced bread. You just bough it.

You bought it because at that point in time it was THE BEST among the WIDELY AVAILABLE. I hope I'm using the right words; You were buying internal combustion, records and you put asbestos on your roof or aluminum sidings on your house. That was just that.

Today it is a different decision. Today it's far from the best among the widely available, but some people prefer it. It's more like a buggy ride around Central Park. I'd never get a Tesla ride around Central Park. I'd always take a horse ride, but that's exactly what it is.

I'm absolutely saying that it is a continuation of what went before, but not in the way you want to paint it.

To put it trivially, the LP record was not invented in 2007 but fifty years before. You can't erase the entire cultural, social, physical effect of that fifty years simply by saying that something else sounds better today, because it's not just about the sound quality for people still buying it, for the most part.

The way to not understand vinyl today, is to think like those few audiophiles who still proclaim it best, no matter how influential they may appear in our little world. How many Fremer followers are buying those Taylor Swift, Harry Styles or Tyler the Creator LPs that appear to make up a quarter of vinyl album sales in the US at the moment? Now, that is a newish phenomenon - people buying that sort of music rather than the audiophile stuff of a few years before - but those buyers are not discovering vinyl in a vacuum, whether as collectors' items or as records to actually play.

 

[IAtaman]

View attachment 325824

Clearly Stones.

 

[IAtaman]

Can anyone explain a near 300 page argument over personal preferences? Rhetorical question. Can anyone explain why some audiophiles’ preference for vinyl is such a trigger for some other audiophiles?

Well the discussion is not really about personal preference, but it does not matter, because if there was one one thing "audiophiles" love more than audio, that would be arguing over audio equipment.

 

[Galliardist]

An alternative take on the hype.

Through most of the 2010s and until recently, the stories reporting huge vinyl sales increases referred to the value of product sold.

E.g.
https://pitchfork.com/news/vinyl-record-sales-increased-almost-30-in-2020-riaa-says/ (this is from 2020).

All of a sudden, just as the increase of value of vinyl sold fell to 3.1% in 2022, now we are being told that there is a massive increase in the number of LPs sold:

Vinyl sales up nearly 15 per cent in 2023

Artists including Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey and Blur have aided the sales

www.nme.com

Somebody has a story to sell, and a leveling off in money spent on vinyl isn't it.

Of course, this is good news for buyers for now, suggesting that the price of vinyl, at least in the US, has gone down. That might be because some vinyl from recent years is being remaindered and sold off. That is happening here, as I confirmed at our local LPs and microwaves store today, they had a boxful, and some other big reductions on the shelves. I'm told that is the same at a couple of specialist stores as well, but haven't checked.

I may be getting ahead of myself as there are a couple of big sellers since the NME article, but let's see: it may mean the US market is peaking by value, and more so if you take you-know-who out of the picture. What happens next?