Did vinyl sales just hit the proverbial brick wall?

To understand the nature of recorded music consumption one needs to break it down into endpoints and the drivers associated with them. Consumption endpoints characteristics include fixed vs mobile and solo vs shared. Mobile further breaks down into portable, e.g. earbuds, ANC headphones, and automotive. Fixed subcategories include HiFi, distributed (e.g. smart speakers), and commercial (e.g. supermarkets and dentist offices). Records are limited to, borrowing a term from aviation, fixed base operations, whether personal (headphones) or shared (speakers). Mobile personal requires a device and earbuds or headphones; mobile shared requires a vehicle. Vinyl was and is a niche requiring a fixed base but offers a unique physically engaging experience many find more enjoyable. Streaming will succeed as it can be fixed, or portable, but requires an internet connection. The final mode, now struggling, is broadcast, which can be enjoyed across all endpoints, but lacks the granular personal choice of other media. It’s real strength in forming a cohort has largely been subsumed by social media - disk jockeys were the influencers of their day. Picking one age group or one consumption endpoint, or worse one metric, and generalizing out of context from there is faulty logic at best.

@mijostyn we agree to disagree. Yes, it's not green. Partly why I feel better buying used.

I would say vinyl does when hifi dies. We'll have lemon groves in Minnesota before that happens. 

@bdp24  Hey, thanks for reserving a copy of the LP for me but I'm a lazy guy and just cued it up on Qobuz. Yeah, I know. I'm piteous. A disgrace to my advancing age and audiophiliosis. The stream is maybe a bit more thuddy and midrangey than I remember it, but the music still cuts through.

as for the Rhianna thing, blech except for the last song... plus, was she lip synching? if so, that would add further to the sleek but shallow artificiality of the whole thing: circus. jus sayin At least Dylan elevates the culture... grrrr... and yes Blowin In the Wind is quite relevant to this day, but then most of the Super Bowl crowd most likely doesn’t care about such things, being enamored of spectacle: bread and circus...

as for the LP question: LPs are a nostalgia item. Cool to listen to and spin, but are they worth the hassle? Not to me, and I’m an audiophile, let alone to casual listeners... But, I also do understand the pleasures of physicality, and LPs do offer that more than does streaming or even CDs. I’m not surprised to see their oft-touted new sales growth slamming on the brakes; it’ll go down from here, I’d posit the guess...