Did vinyl sales just hit the proverbial brick wall?


Interesting read here about the state of vinyl. Personally, I had no idea what the percentage of vinyl sales was “merchandise” never to be opened or played.

 

https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/did-the-music-business-just-kill?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

128x128wturkey

Rihanna put on a great show at the SB! Who would you rather see, 80 year old Bob Dylan singing Blowing in the Wind? I am a big Dylan fan and I still wouldn’t want to see that. It’s 2023! Not the 60’s or 70’s.

I would really like to see the halftime show, all the other hoopla and the stupid commercials done away with, and just have an NFL Championship game played like any other regular season game.  But I know that’s never going to happen, so I just start watching about an hour late and fast forward through all the junk..

I’ve never seen Steve Earl but I saw Canned Heat in the early 1970’s. Anyway, the article is like an editorial page, what I tend to believe is true based on my limited scope or understanding. Every time I check the website for The Electric Recording Company, each one of the $800.00 editions have sold out and that’s because of the work and money that goes into them. MOFI and AnalogueProductions are committed to remastering and rereleasing titles with audiophile quality at realistic prices. There’s Analogphonic, Pure Pleasure, Speakers Corner, Universal, Rhino, etc.. who are doing the same. The reason why technology hasn’t changed radically is because the process that’s worked extremely well over the past twenty plus years still works extremely well today. I will agree however that it’s hard to make money in the music industry but it’s always had it’s troubles and frustrations, just of a different nature.

@grislybutter 

You're right Grisly.  A lot of millennials and younger are buying vinyl and labels are cutting records of material they like.  In fact some of them are buying more vinyl than I buy as I have most of what I want and I'm not much interested in the noise and bling that passes for popular music these days.  As for classical, how many versions of Beethoven's Fifth do you need?  I have about 7.

It is difficult to prove a negative.  Some here are saying young people don't buy vinyl.  Where is their evidence?

We oldtimers who love records can still purchase them on Ebay and from used record stores. By the time the interest and availability of vinyl records peters out, so will most of us anyway, so why worry about it. Instead enjoy what records we already have at home or can still purchase used.

I don’t, or won’t, stream music and probably never will. But I do stream Paramount Plus on television to catch or rewatch all the many Star Trek programs. I’ve seen most all of them, and have yet to see a single vinyl record on any episode. So the handwriting is on the wall.

My current plan is to outlive my peers and scarf up their record collections as they become available. It’s only out of politeness I’ve not contacted those of you who say you’re getting rid of your vinyl, while switching to streaming.. And the vast majority of kids I’ve spoken to haven’t a clue about good audio equipment, much less vinyl records, so what’s the difference if records disappear after we’re gone?

Mike

Vinyl did die once already, and then it came back. Whatever brought it back could do so again. Now let’s all keep our mouths shut (less they catch on) so prices can come down again as everybody unloads their collections. 2000ish was a great time to be buying music.