Alternative investments: The surprising renaissance of vinyl records

Music industry reports show that in recent years, sales of vinyl albums have grown dramatically. But when most of us can access digital sounds anytime, anywhere, why are old-fashioned, fragile and expensive-to-buy LP records once again so popular? By David Shiers

 
2022 marked the 17^th consecutive year that US sales of vinyl records increased and in the first part of 2023, the numbers grew again by almost 22%. The picture is almost identical in the UK. Last year, Harry Styles sold more than 480,000 vinyl copies of his Harry’s House album in the USA and Fleetwood Mac shifted over 243,000 of their 70s classic, Rumours. In Britain, Taylor Swift’s Midnights sold 62,000 plastic platters in the first week of its release.

Data from Billboard, the British Phonographic Industry, the Recording Industry Association of America and Luminate show that although streaming is still the most popular way the world accesses its music (accounting for about 85% of music industry revenues), in 2022, LP records outsold CDs for the first time since 1987 and in the US, over 43 million of them were sold with sales reaching 1.2 billion dollars. In the UK, 5.5 million new albums worth £116 million were bought, the highest number since 1990.

So how can the resurgence of the once outmoded LP be explained? It is surely not just fad or fashion which has trumped the practical disadvantages of vinyl records; many of which hastened the original demise of a product which hadn’t changed much since its introduction in the late 1940s. Records can be easily scratched and warped out of shape and use up valuable physical storage space. The gear you need to play the album is pretty much immovable and cheaper turntables can cause rumble (the amplified sound of the motor), wow and flutter (a result of the tiny speed fluctuations in the spinning disc) and spoil the listening experience. Styluses can be damaged and are expensive to replace, and if there’s dust on the needle – catastrophe!  And it can be hard to drop the pickup arm onto a specific chosen track especially if your turntable doesn’t have a lifting device.

Top of the range hi-fi isn’t cheap either. A friend of mine owns an audio company and whilst he successfully sells affordable turntables from £399 to £2000, his team are working on a range which will start at £12,000 and go up to £50,000. He also tells me there is a thriving high-end market up to, and over, £100,000. And that’s just the turntable; then there’s the amplifier and the speakers.

But perhaps these reassuringly expensive price-tags partly explain the vinyl explosion – we like owning stuff, particularly if it looks nice, is satisfying to use and has a certain cachet. So if you don’t already have hi-fi gear, you’ve now got a reason to indulge in one of our favourite pastimes – buying new kit. And it comes with the added bonus of drooling over beautiful objects, most of which you can’t afford. Check out the tech sold by SME, Avid or Edwards Audio and you’ll get the picture. Although streamed music only exists as sound waves, CDs are real; so yes, they’re stuff too, but are maybe less appealing. With a vinyl album, you get a generous 30cm x 30cm poster-sized cover (it may even be ‘gatefold’!) which is large enough to frame and hang on the wall as an artsy piece of graphic design. Seeing those same images, reduced down to 12cm x 12cm, behind the plastic skin of a functional CD box just isn’t the same experience.  Would the classic album covers of the past – say, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, have had as much impact or even been designed the same, if they had been less than one-quarter size?

Buying an album in a record store, getting it home and impatiently unwrapping this gift to yourself, is akin to opening up a box of treats. A vinyl record’s packaging may include song lyrics printed out large enough to easily read, cool photographs, extensive liner notes and even a slim booklet. And then there’s the ritual of actually playing the record  – taking off the cellophane, sliding out the inner sleeve, carefully removing the precious disc and setting it down on the turntable. You may wish to sweep the surface with the hi-fi enthusiast’s brush to remove any dust or stray vinyl parings and to reduce static. Then you will inspect the stylus for detritus or signs of damage before selecting ‘play’ and sitting down, ready to enjoy. And because your hi-fi is probably in the living room, this isn’t music on the move, nor is it a backing track to another activity – you’re there to listen and it requires engagement and due consideration. In its purest form, where the music is meaningful to the listener, the experience is almost meditative and we’re in powerful, mind and mood-altering territory.

Listening to a vinyl album on good quality equipment can also be closer to live performance. I’m told by tech-savvy friends that digital music (streamed or CD) has been compressed i.e. parts of the original sound picture have been filtered out and the dynamic range is reduced. Compression gives extra presence and ‘ping’ and so can enhance the listening experience. The analogue sound of vinyl is definitely different to CD or streaming but is one preferable, better or more natural? Perhaps. It may just be a matter of taste, sensibility, genre appropriateness and the equipment being used. Certainly, vinyl devotees have no doubt which soundscape they prefer.

Longevity and money considerations might also be factors when choosing to buy vinyl. You can play an LP again and again for free – there’s no streaming service payment, no risk of corrupted files or the platform suddenly ditching the artist or a particular track. A vinyl record in good condition will likely keep its value over time and in some cases, increase. We’ve all heard about the sums which some vintage albums can command: a 1963 copy of the Beatles’ Please Please Me may fetch £5k, original copies of David Bowie or Pink Floyd LPs are in the £3k range. There’s not much info out there on Classical or Jazz vinyl but if rare enough, those albums could be worth serious money.

Vinyl records have retro and nostalgic appeal too; Mid-century Modern interior design remains very much in fashion and hi-fi units and vinyl fit right in. Old records also provide a time travel portal – it’ll sound just the way it did when it was first released or indeed, when you first listened to it.  Music is the soundtrack of our lives but it won’t just be the notes or even those old scratches and crackles that bring the memories flooding back. The experience of taking it out of its cover and watching the label start to spin again will help transport you into the past just as sure as handling an old photograph or taking down a once loved paperback from the bookshelf.

But the vinyl boom isn’t being fuelled just by collectors or sentimental folk in their senior years. Industry reports suggest that some 70% of purchasers of vinyl records are aged 35 or below so whether it’s for reasons of ritualised pleasure, a more authentic listening experience, sound financial investment, nostalgia or the overt signalling of one’s own discerning tastes  –  vinyl is back in the charts and not planning any farewell tours, not yet anyway.
 
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