We aren’t going “Back to the Future,” but in one way it might seem like it. Vinyl records, the retro audio format, have made their way back into the mainstream and sales are gaining momentum.
For the past decade, record industry executives cried in their million dollar suits trying to cope with dwindling CD sales. The threat of cheap digital music on iTunes and file-sharing sites seemed destined to leave the record industry in shambles.
As our generation trades CDs for digital music, a question looms over the record industry: do people still want to buy copies of music?
According to Neilson SoundScan, CD sales went down 14 percent from 2007 to 2008, dropping from 500 million sold to 428 million. Digital album sales rose 32 percent to a record 66 million units.
But the most notable growth in the 2007-08 year came in what some would call a “dusty” category. Last year, the big black discs that play on your dad’s ancient mahogany turntable sold 1.88 million units, vinyl’s largest sales since SoundScan began tracking albums in 1991.
This wasn’t a fluke year for the old-school format, sales have been steadily increasing for years. In 2007, LP sales reached one million units sold, up from the 850,000 in 2006. In contrast, the Recording Industry Association of America reported a 17.5 percent decrease in CD sales during the same period.
Ironically, the vinyl resurgence can be partially attributed to the advanced digital technology that took sales from CDs. Many music enthusiasts are slow to convert their libraries to digital because of the electronic files’ compressed, lower-quality sound. Many collectors and audio geeks insist that music is best heard on vinyl.
Many artists are now releasing their new work on vinyl, in addition to digital and CD formats. Some new turntables are equipped with USB ports, so music fans can record their vinyl albums in digital format for their computer and MP3 player.
To appeal to the iPod generation, singer-songwriter Mason Jennings and bands like Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver inserted downloadable codes with their vinyl releases, so fans can upload tracks to enjoy on-the-go with their digital music player. The latest Black Keys album included a CD copy inside the record sleeve.
Record artwork is beautiful. Before I got my record player and started collecting vinyl, I remember being blown away by the records I found in the basement of my parents’ house. I never realized how gorgeous album art could be until I saw it blown up four times larger than a CD.
For me, the hisses, cracks and pops that bounce off the vinyl records are what give the medium its character. The warm richness of vinyl records is lacking on CDs and completely absent on digital formats. On wax, all the tones, notes and instruments don’t get mashed together. Instead, they’re layered with sonic breathing room so vinyl recordings sound almost like you’re hearing a live performance.
Living in the Twin Cities has perks, including one of the best music scenes in the United States. Of all the vinyl records sold in 2008, two out of every three were purchased at an independent music store, and we have an abundance of charming local businesses to supply the resurrected vinyl format. My local favorites include Eclipse Records, Cheapo and Electric Fetus.
It will be interesting to see if vinyl records continued their rise through 2009. As a vinyl junkie, I’m just happy I don’t have to rely on Doc Brown to fire up the DeLorean time machine just so I can get some tunes on fresh wax.
Matt Linden can be reached at mdlinden@stthomas.edu