Why did vinyl come back, and how are streaming services related to this?

Records are bought more and more often. Analysts from the American Recording Industry Association (RIAA) note that by the end of the year vinyl revenues will exceed CDs - this has not happened for more than 30 years. We talk about the reasons for this boom.

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Vinyl Renaissance

Vinyl remained a popular music format until the mid-80s. Later it began to be replaced by CD and other digital formats. At the beginning of the 2000s, it seemed that the records had already become a thing of the past, but in the 2010s the demand for them began to gain momentum again - only in 2016 vinyl sales grew by 53% [ and we even presented our showcase in our Audiomania ].

This year, the plates move further and can take on a new height. Specialists from the American Association of Recording Companies note that revenues from the sale of vinyl records are gradually overtaking revenues from the sale of discs. For the first half of 2019, US residents spent $ 224 million on CDs, and $ 247 million on CDs. Experts say vinyl will narrow the gap by the end of the year. Let's figure out what contributes to the growth of interest in him.

Causes

Oddly enough, one of the main factors in the revival of vinyl is considered to be the growing popularity of streaming platforms. But the more people “go digital” and take advantage of streaming while listening to music at work or in transport, the more interesting are “offline” and formats, which are the exact opposite. They are suitable for less dynamic situations - listening to music at home or in a narrow circle of like-minded people in the club . One of those who prefer records is Jack White, member of The White Stripes. He says that streaming plays a good role as a tool for finding new songs and artists, but he prefers to listen to music on vinyl.

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Another reason people buy records is the desire to support their favorite band or artist. Many of them just release their albums on vinyl. Just at the end of August, Ozzy Osbourne announced a boxing set with 24 plates at once.

An important role in the popularity of vinyl is played by the aesthetic component and the craving for collecting. We can say that partly this desire is formed by the picture that the directors of some films and series draw in the minds of the audience. Vinyl players periodically appear in Woody Allen’s films, hero libraries such as Tony Stark from Iron Man and Captain Kirk from Startrek have their own library of records (by the way, we talked about the role of records in films in one of the previous materials ).

Individual esthete collectors not only form a library of their favorite music on vinyl, but collect unique releases. For example, in 2012, Jack White and the label Third Man Records released a limited edition vinyl single, Sixteen Saltines. It was recorded on a plate filled with blue liquid from the inside. Given that no one had done anything like this before Jack White, these records are highly regarded among collectors.

Streaming services are still ahead

On the network you can find the opinion that in the future vinyl will be able to overtake not only CD, but also streaming services. Revenues from the sale of paid subscriptions to sites such as Spotify are growing at about 20% annually, while for vinyl this figure exceeds 50%. However, most analysts consider this point of view too optimistic.

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According to the RIAA, in the first half of 2019, vinyl records accounted for only 4% of the country's total music industry revenue. For streaming services, the share was 62%. At the same time, the number of records sold also remains at a low level - large circulation even of such famous artists as Radiohead and Daft Punk did not exceed 30 thousand copies. But the situation can still change, albeit slightly.

Back to vinyl

Experts say vinyl sales will only increase in the near future. This point of view is confirmed by the increase in the number of factories engaged in the production of records. In 2017, less than 30 plants were opened in the United States, and today their number has grown to 72 . New productions are also launched in Russia - for example, records are printed at the Ultra Production plant in Moscow.

Also developing companies that produce modern presses for printing plates. For example, in the United States, new machines are supplied by Record Products of America. New technologies are also being developed to increase the volume of vinyl production. Viryl Technologies from Canada designed a machine that does not have a gas heater. This approach will reduce the size of the installation and place more equipment in the workshop. All this will contribute to the further development of the vinyl industry.