Did vinyl sales just hit the proverbial brick wall?

Vinyl, despite the Record Industry's spurious claims that it is the best selling format by $value, but CDs still outsell vinyl and streaming overwhelms them both on a per unit basis. Even digital downloads do better than vinyl. Keep in mind, the Record Industry isn't just located in the US so people all over the world are buying the most convenient format (CDs and downloads) to listen to music. Not everyone has access to reliable wi-fi or cellular access for quality streaming either. Heck my in-laws, who live in south Louisiana, have terrible cellular and internet services so streaming anything high-res is out of the question. 

"Vinyl", realistically has, for the last 25 years, been the domain of collectors and music enthusiasts. A majority of music listeners under the age of 50 aren't that into collecting music (vinyl, CDs, downloads) per se. Nor are they investing heavily in hi-fi or mid-fi setups. Most  listen to music as wallpaper. Most are listening with noise-cancelling IEMs that aren't costing more an $150. Most are streaming through their TV or phone via a soundbar or bluetooth speakers, respectively.

I buy & collect music in the following formats - vinyl, CDs and downloads. For certain artists, my format of collecting is dependent upon the format I started collecting them in. Some artists never released anything on vinyl - only CD, some both, some release only digitally and some release across all 3 formats. For example, I have The The's entire catalog on CD, Cabaret Voltaire on CD, Calexico on vinyl, Neko Case - CD and vinyl, Miles - vinyl and CD, Monk - vinyl and CD. You get the picture. I buy direct from artists or artist labels and hard to find or original/2nd pressing stuff on Discogs. New vinyl is hit or miss in quality so thinking it's the greatest sounding thing since spliced tape is dubious at best.

I have original jazz and blues pressings I inherited from my father that I have on CD because at that time in the early 90s I was in college, CDs were the most convenient format to move around as an apartment hoping student. When my father passed I pulled my favorite albums plus obscure stuff that will never get re-issued or put onto streaming services. I have CDs by artists that will never get reissued, are out of print and not available on streaming. 

Vinyl is ridiculously over-priced because many of the new pressings are special issues or remasters (that aren't necessarily better than a 1st or 2nd pressing). In fact I've found some great bargains buying 2nd pressings vs. 1st and they sound as good if not better.

@bdp24

I guess it's with motor vee-hickles where our tastes finally diverge. My pride-of-ownership car is a 2016 Mazda Miata me and the wife bought new off a dealer's lot in Northridge. It had apparently been sitting there for two years plus, probably because of the manual transmission (a six speed!). Finest assembly quality of any car I've owned. No conceivable space to ever put a decent radio in it. Got it for the proverbial song. The only true problem with it is that it is so small it's absolutely impossible to find in the mall's parking lot. You gotta remember exactly where you put it.

@edcyn: The size of the Tahoe is exactly why I bought it; I use it to haul my drums to gigs. For awhile I had it AND my old '84 BMW 528e, but by 2008 it's parts had started to regularly wear out, and BMW parts aren't cheap. I didn't want to sink anymore dough into it, and sold it to the State of California for a grand.

@bdp24 When I lived in L.A. (my proverbial old home town), I had a succession of Three Series BMWs. All with manual transmissions. Loved 'em.' One of them purchased at the factory and used to cruise through Europe. And yes, it wasn't difficult at all to load an electric guitar, amp, etc.,into the car for jam sessions (I'd be too embarrassed to call them genuine gigs). Yeah, yawn... Another Beemer adding to the SoCal crush.

Wow. Yes, so I actually read the entire article, and again...wow. The responses to this misinformed individual have pretty much already been made, either in his original article or here in this forum. Talk about apples and oranges. The two most interesting points I garnered from the reading were first, the only categories where  increases were made was cassettes (very nominal) and (Surprise Surprise!) vinyl records. The overall decline I would assume is mostly from streaming. Seems a great way to introduce yourself to an artist or genre. However to this point recorded music has always been a 'possessive' endeavor (for me anyway). My generation 'streamed' AM radio in the beginning, and then FM. You couldn't get the material on demand, but you were guaranteed to hear it again in an hour or so. Younger X's, Z's and millennial's choose to spend their resources on other things (like $8 cups of coffee). They are generally much more mobile and less interested in purchasing things like homes or diamonds. Kudos to them all. I've been buying records for going on 60 years. Wasn't a sealed one in the more than 4K examples. However in the late 80's and early 90's I began to purchase multiple copies of popular artists like REM, U2, Nirvana, Soul Asylum, etc. and left them sealed. Since retirement I have been very fortunate to recoup my investments, ten fold and more. My second observation is that no one has even mentioned CONDITION when espousing on the pros and cons of used records. Always took very good care of my vinyl, running most less than 'perfect' pressings back to the retail outlet for an exchange. And yes, most are still in NM/M- condition. Whether from the 60's or 2K, my asking prices reflect this. As I watched what 'collectible' records started selling for 40 years gone, I weathered the "just take 'em to Goodwill" pressure of this time period. Happy now, supplements my paltry retirement and Social Security payments today. Peace and enjoy the music as it was meant to be heard. AB