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Vinyl sales up 39%? (Latte-pass)

JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
edited May 2012 in Strut Central
http://www.mixmag.net/words/news/vinylsalesup39percent

2.9 million units in 2010 to 3.9 million in 2011. Nice 1mil+ jump, but I wonder if that will tank in a few years when the kids don't get hipster cache points for owning wax. Also, is it a little sobering that the entire US record industry only sells 4 million physical records a year despite it's resurgence in main stream pop culture?

PS-Thanks to whoever posted that mixmag article on Diplo and A-Track making a Pepsi-commercial/Mi-Jack remix b/c it sent me down the rabbit hole to find this.

  Comments

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Does anyone actually think vinyl is "coming back" as anything except a tiny niche market?
  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    One new record per year for each four hundred people is indeed niche.
  • fishmongerfunkfishmongerfunk 4,154 Posts
    can someone here please to do a proper meta-critique of this "vinyl is back" crap that has been foisted upon us every 3-4 months in one form or another for the past 15 or so years (maybe longer)?
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    I saw Tupac at the supermarket on monday.
  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    crabmongerfunk said:
    can someone here please to do a proper meta-critique of this "vinyl is back" crap that has been foisted upon us every 3-4 months in one form or another for the past 15 or so years (maybe longer)?

    Hasn't been updated in a few years, but here's a pretty comprehensive list.
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    Call off the Comic Book Store Guy posse...I don't see anywhere in the article or the post that claims "vinyl is back". It's certainly niche and always will be...and of course it's fleeting just as all physical mediums are these days.

    I just found it interesting that a niche market enjoyed a 1/3+ increase in units sold. And, I'm not quite sure how it was accomplished.
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    Unherd said:

    Hasn't been updated in a few years, but here's a pretty comprehensive list.

    Dope...thanks for sharing.
  • HorseleechHorseleech 3,830 Posts
    JectWon said:
    I just found it interesting that a niche market enjoyed a 1/3+ increase in units sold. And, I'm not quite sure how it was accomplished.



    Just kidding...

    At least part of it is the increase of vinyl being sold at stores/sites that report sales. Bear in mind that this is strictly what is reported to Neilsen/Soundscam. Used sales don't figure into this at all, among other deficiencies.

    Also, there are way more titles being released on vinyl now than even a few years ago, and as quality used records continue to 'dry up', record buyers are buying more new product.

    There is an increase in the number of people who buy records, but it's relatively modest - certainly not 39%.
  • 4YearGraduate4YearGraduate 2,945 Posts
    It's up, yes, but a little context:

    Vinyl composes 3.9 million units of the 330.6 million albums that sold last year.
    Or, to shine a different light on it - Michael Buble sold more albums last year than ALL vinyl sales combined.

    also, ALOT of rereleases:
    BEST BUY
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    4YearGraduate said:
    Michael Buble sold more albums last year than ALL vinyl sales combined.

    also, ALOT of rereleases:
    BEST BUY

    Oh, for sure...it's an incredibly minute amount of units for sure...pretty laughable actually. But a 1/3+ increase is still pretty interesting. I guess it's not that mysterious...probably a perfect storm of hipster cache, lots of releases and the people just announcing that LP's are available in wax...the majority of Conan O'Brien's musical acts are announced via Conan with their vinyl in hand.
  • JectWonJectWon (@_@) 1,654 Posts
    Horseleech said:
    Also, there are way more titles being released on vinyl now than even a few years ago, and as quality used records continue to 'dry up', record buyers are buying more new product.

    There is an increase in the number of people who buy records, but it's relatively modest - certainly not 39%.

    I never thought about that.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Vinyl sales approached zero (in sound scan terms) in 1990.
    If I'm not wrong I'm sure I'm right...Since about 1994 vinyl has seen double digit increase in sales every year.
    (Again I am talking about new product recorded by soundscan.)

    I don't know what recent numbers are, but CDs have seen a sharp decline.
    If a consumer decides they want audiophile sound quality they will almost certainly choose vinyl.
    Which means not only hipsters, but also music lovers with the $$$ to drop on a good system are fueling the come back.

    I think the biggest problem for the audiophile market is that the new standard is to abandon music for the home theater experience.

    Anywho, I expect to see vinyl sales continue to increase as the cd goes the way of the 8-track.
  • leonleon 883 Posts
    LaserWolf said:

    Anywho, I expect to see vinyl sales continue to increase as the cd goes the way of the 8-track.
    ^^^ THIS ^^^
    Hypothesis: the CD age will pass and vinyl will be the only way left to buy music on 'hard copy'. What could that potentially mean?
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Public Radio is now offering thumb drives of radio shows.
    So expect to see music being offered on thumb drives in the remaining brick and mortar stores.

    The cd is obsolete and knows it.
  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    JectWon said:
    Call off the Comic Book Store Guy posse...I don't see anywhere in the article or the post that claims "vinyl is back". It's certainly niche and always will be...and of course it's fleeting just as all physical mediums are these days.

    I just found it interesting that a niche market enjoyed a 1/3+ increase in units sold. And, I'm not quite sure how it was accomplished.

    They accomplished it by taking what had been written off as a dead format, and doing exactly what they did with the CD - they marketed it as a premium product. Remember when all the talk was of how much better the sound quality of a CD was, compared to crackly old vinyl (conveniently overlooking the fact that most folks play their CDs on some sort of shitty little box system anyway)? Funny how that piece of received wisdom has died like a dog, isn't it? The same people who are saying things like, "oh, the sound of original vinyl's just sooo much warmer..." would have been smearing peanut butter on CDs 25 years ago, and saying "Look! You can still play it!" Then of course, there's the irony of discovering via an eBay search that an original mono first pressing of a record like Blonde On Blonde can be had for less than the 180gm virgin vinyl mono reissue from ten years ago.
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