Millennials Fueling Vinyl Records Sales Surge

[redmumba]

Interesting read:

www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/why-millennials-are-buying-more-vinyl-records-n458806

[Deleted]

The article is US-centric and should be taken in that context only.

Also, this is quite misleading:

"The association says the last time it has seen such high LP sales was a quarter century ago, in 1989. At that time, nearly 35 million LPs were sold. Then in 1990, compact disc sales took off, and vinyl sales fell by the wayside."

CDs didn't "take off" in 1990. In fact, 1989 is the last full year that major labels released every album they put out on CD, Cassette, and Vinyl in the United States (1992 in Europe and never stopped completely for some artists). In the 3rd quarter of 1990 the record labels started to issue new releases on CD and Cassette only. As we can see in the chart below, in 1989 CDs outsold vinyl at about a 10 to 1 margin, but still sold less than half the units that Cassettes did. The reason sales of compact discs would "take off" is that starting in 1990 consumers had to choose between Cassettes and CD only. If the album you want isn't available on Vinyl, you are likely going to buy it on CD or Cassette. Generally, traditional vinyl buyers preferred CDs to Cassettes. Saying "vinyl sales fell by the wayside" implies that consumers were choosing CDs over vinyl; this is true for the years prior to 1990, but by 1990 they began to have no other choice. So it is not that vinyl sales fell by the wayside as much as consumers weren't afforded a chance to buy music on vinyl anymore.

Figure:

Credit: oakey

The two subsequent years show a low level of vinyl sales as the units were phased out in 1990 for all artists. Columbia House and other record clubs continued to issue some of their top artists on vinyl in 1991 as well, hence the figure not hitting zero until 1992. As you can see the US record industry continued to produce some vinyl singles even after it had completely phased out vinyl LPs.

Anyway, the point is that the sales of vinyl today in the US are still lower than the last year in which all major label artists had their new albums released on vinyl. The fact that new vinyl releases today outpace 1990 is not a surprise since that was the first year that many artists did not have their album released on vinyl. I know the writer of the article is trying to drum up interest in vinyl, but that doesn't excuse using data in a way that is intended to mislead the audience.

[La Princess]

I have to think several things are in play. For one, it seems CD is being phased out in favor of digital and many people want an item they can hold. Second, vinyl traditionally has better sounds. That may appear weird to say but look at early CDs and how subpar they are compared to vinyl. Then there is the artwork. For example we would all agree that the Rio cover is art (and literally is)and this is obvious on the vinyl as compared to cassette or CD (I have it on all three formats).

Regarding CD sales I remember going into a record store in 1989 and seeing lots of vinyl including Big Thing. I remember reading that some album in 1990 wasn't going to be released on vinyl. I 1991 I bought my first CD player and it was expensive (several hundred dollars)because I wanted no skip and skipping was common then. Years later I got a job at Borders and they were starting to phase out cassettes while they were still be produced. Having a huge collection of all three formats I can say that I prefer vinyl, then CD then cassette. Cassettes were good because they were portable but bad because they broke easily. Not to mention finding a certain song. CDs were great being portable and not wearing down but bad sound early on. Vinyl was bad because it wasn't portable but the sound was usually crisper.

[redmumba]

Do you really think CDs are being phased out? I would find it hard to believe that any label would just dump CDs in favor of digital offerings. Personally, I don't buy too many CDs nowadays, but if I do, it's usually a band I'm a fan of. Most of the music I get nowadays is in a digital format (usually mp3). There is still vinyl I buy and that's, again, because it's a group I like OR for some other reason...BUT...there has to be something unique about it for me to buy it (i.e. it has to be colored vinyl - I'm a sucker for that). Will I play the vinyl? Probably not since there's usually a digital file download code included. I just received my New Order Music Complete vinyl box set pressed up in pretty colored vinyl and that included a dl code (for flac and mp3 versions). I haven't opened the record sleeves yet to look at the vinyl...that might be done at some point down the line.

[La Princess]

I hope they don't phase out CDs but I fear this is happening. I've been on a DVD website and it was saying how so many shows aren't going to be released on DVD anymore. While there are reasons this is happening, on e is cost. It is cheap to make CDs but even cheaper to release online. I still buy CDs and DVDs but so many younger people aren't.

[Deleted]

Nov 9, 2015 16:37:10 GMT -5 La Princess said:

I hope they don't phase out CDs but I fear this is happening. I've been on a DVD website and it was saying how so many shows aren't going to be released on DVD anymore. While there are reasons this is happening, on e is cost. It is cheap to make CDs but even cheaper to release online. I still buy CDs and DVDs but so many younger people aren't.

I couldn't agree more!

I think you will see a significant rise in piracy if the labels completely eliminate physical releases and especially the compact disc as a format. You also change the image of bootleggers from scoundrels trying to take advantage of the public, to saviors filling a niche that record labels refuse (out of want, not economics) to fill.

Personally, I already feel differently about bootleggers than I did five years ago. I can site two examples:

1. TV Mania - I love the Medazzaland/Pop Trash era of duran duran, but I just didn't have the disposable cash to buy the very limited and expensive Vinyl Factory releases. Beyond that, I was insulted that the £30 version of the album didn't have all the remixes and one would have to pay £250 to get all of the content!!! Needless to say, I did not have £250

What did I do? I bought the 2 Russian Fan Club CDs for $47 including shipping. Could Nick & Warren have done a CD release? Of course. When they decided to not do a CD release and offer very limited and very expensive vinyl releases instead they lost me.


2. Queen - In The Mirror. EMI released two out of the four BBC sessions on LP and CD in 1989 in the form of At The Beeb. They left out the other two sessions and although some tracks later made it onto expanded remasters in the last few years. The owners of said recordings still refuse to release some key songs like White Queen (As It Began) from Langham 1 Studio, London, April 3, 1974, which is significantly different than the album version of the song. I bought the bootleg because I had no other choice.


In regards to my feelings about files; Especially mp3s and other lossy files, but even lossless files such as flac and wave are close to valueless for me. They can be easily lost or erased, do not have artwork that is tangible and enjoyable to interact with (and that is versions with expanded pdf files which are rare in themselves), and require transfer or difficulty to play on a traditional stereo. Mostly I feel like a series of zeros & ones isn't worth very much. I am happy to pay $20 for a 10 song CD and feel ripped off to pay more than 5¢ for a file of a single song. That is why I rather pay a bootlegger for a CD of TV Mania than itunes for a download of the same album. You are not selling me what I want. I want the sleeve. I want the package. It is just as important to me as the music contained within. I want to have a slot on my CD shelves where I can pull out the music and put it on.

The real fear though isn't the loss of all physical formats, which remains a tangible possibility, but rather the elimination of sales altogether in favour of streaming deals. We should be really afraid of that since it may be that in the future we are not even allowed to own our favourite music. We would instead have to subscribe to the correct service to hear one band or another as they sign exclusive streaming deals.

I have a true to life example:

On September 4th 2012 Imagine Dragons released their major label debut in the United States. It was available in a Standard CD form of 11 tracks, a BestBuy exclusive of 13 tracks (two of which were culled from previous independent releases), and Itunes version containing 13 tracks where the two bonus tracks were exclusive to the download (one of which has never been released on any physical release to this date), AND a Spotify streaming version of the album containing 14 tracks; the itunes 13 PLUS a song called Cha-Ching (Till We Grow Older). That song was NOT available for purchase in the US. It eventually made it along with one of the itunes bonus tracks to the physical UK CD released on 01 Mar 2013. That means that for 7 months there was no LEGAL way to listen to the song Cha-Ching (Till We Grow Older) other than subscribing to Spotify.

Now imagine this: You can only buy tracks from itunes from the country in which your credit card is located. If the Imagine Dragons album had only gotten an itunes download version in the UK or if Cha-Ching (Till We Grow Older) had been only available as an itunes bonus track in Europe you COULD NOT BUY THE SONG in the US or Canada. This is the world we are headed to. It is pretty scary and I for one am hoping that bootleggers pick up the slack if these myopic mega-corporations go down this route. It is all well and good with duran duran because there is a whole label that has been created by bootleggers to service the fans, but that situation is the exception. None of the other bands I listen to have a dedicated bootlegging label.

[La Princess]

Yeah I look at some bootleggers differently now. I don't like those who take advantage but what if they hav e something not commercially available? Let's just say some bootlegger got a copy of Reportage and was selling it. Would it be wrong to buy it if it's not other wise available? I've seen what you mentioned about certain songs not available and agree with you. I should have the right to buy the version I want even if it's not the right one in the certain area. For example say DD released a new album where the European version was all great songs, but the American version was a tribute to boy bands, why should I have to buy the one released here? Speaking of bootlegs, one of the things I've found online for them (and other groups)are concert albums never released. Some bands have gotten wise and release concerts as it but others don't. Some clean them up. I generally want a less polished version (assuming I can still hear the music).