The Hub: Is a Vinyl Revival in progress?


I'm cynical when it comes to news. I started out that way, and experience in J-school, newspapers and radio only made me more jaded. My view is that, like stock-tips, by the time a story hits the mainstream, it ain't news: it's a train already 'waaay down the tracks, interesting to watch and wave at, but nothing you can climb aboard.

So when a "trend" in vinyl revival is reported in such divergent media as the New York Times (as seen here) and the AARP magazine (as seen here) , is it like a grandmother just discovering her tweenage grand-daughter's interest in Twilight: too little, too late?

The distinction between a fad and a trend is an important one, and one frequently debated by marketers and sociologists. I think the difference was well put on the Marketing Innovation website:
"Both fads and trends last a finite period of time. However, when the fad is over, things are fundamentally the same. When a trend is over, things are fundamentally changed."

Here's the litmus test: when people give up wearing pink Crocs, is society different? No. After the big boom in sales of green tea flattens out, will societal habits be different? Probably so. So: Crocs are a fad, tea-drinking is part of a greater trend in consumption of nutriceuticals (don't get me started on THAT topic).

Futurist Faith Popcorn has made a career out of predicting societal trends, and written several best-selling books about where we're going next, in America. Through her assistant, I posed the question to Ms. Popcorn: is the vinyl revival a fad, or part of a larger trend? An answer has yet to appear, so I suspect we're on our own with this question.

Luckily, the person who has single-handedly done more to revive vinyl than any other individual, DOES answer my questions. Michael Fremer has written about vinyl and music for 30 years now, starting with The Absolute Sound and now as Senior Contributing Editor at Stereophile. Mikey also writes and edits his own music website Music Angle, and wouldja believe he writes a political blog for New Jersey's Bergen Record? (seen here).

Most audiophiles are introverted and terrified of addressing an audience, but Cornell grad and BU Law dropout Fremer also has stints as a stand-up comic and DJ on his resume. He's thoroughly comfortable schticking before a packed house, a microphone or a video camera; he's also good company at a bar. Unfortunately, this particular conversation was telephonic ( and took place Friday, December 18, 2009).

Audiogon Bill: "Michael, does all the mainstream press attention to the vinyl revival indicate that it's a fad, or a trend?"

Michael Fremer: "Oh, absolutely, it's a trend. It's been ongoing for several years now. Sales last year were double those of the year before, and THOSE sales had doubled from the year before THAT. And keep in mind that those are the sales that are COUNTED; this whole thing has been propelled by new indy rock releases, and most of those are under the radar."

AB: "But the LP is never going to be as big as it once was, is it?"

MF: "No, no, it's going to always be a niche market, but that's a good thing, because the people doing it will be the ones who are concerned with quality. I wouldn't want it to be mainstream again.

"Look, when it comes to computers, and we're not talking about iPods, iPhones, all those, but just COMPUTERS, Apple's a niche market. They've got what, 2% of the market against all the Windows nonsense done by everybody else? But it's an important niche, they lead the way."

AB: "So that's what you anticipate vinyl will be, the leading edge?"

MF: "Well, yeah. I mean, when it comes to reissues, you see pretty much the same content on vinyl as you do on SACD; the material is old, but it's being reissued to an audience that's really conscious of quality. But like I said, it's the new indy rock releases that make vinyl different, and THAT'S what's driving the whole revival. It's a young audience, vinyl is something new to them, and once they start playing LP's they're discovering a whole world of music that's available to them on vinyl that they'll never see or hear on CD."

After that, our conversation veered into the limitations on LP production capacity created by the shutdown years ago of most of the world's stamping-plants (new plants will be coming online soon, says Michael), and then degenerated into a discussion of why Michael is 10 years older than me, yet looks 10 years younger (answer: Pilates). But as you've read, Michael is convinced that today's vinyl revival is the real deal, and here to stay for a select segment of the music-buying audience.

There is evidence of backlash against computers and the virtual world amongst members of Generation Z (or whatever letter we're on now); as was the case in the late '60's, interest in crafts, handmade goods and mechanical devices is soaring. How much of it is frustration with bad programming (i.e., can't they just put a button or a knob on the thing, rather than a MENU??), I can't say. Clearly, though, downloaded files lack the tangible connection provided by the colorful artwork and liner notes of an LP jacket, or even the physical act of placing a record on the platter and cueing it up.

Psychologically, LPs provide another element lacking in the iPod experience: anticipation. Unlike a digital player which can hold thousands of songs, ready to go at the touch of the screen, a cut on vinyl has to be selected, pulled off the shelf, the disc removed from the jacket and the inner sleeve, cued up...you know the drill. It is a more leisurely process than than the digital one, and perhaps a more contemplative one as well. Listening to an entire album by an artist allows for greater immersion in the work, something rarely found in the cherry-picking download world.

And of course, I haven't even mentioned the SOUND of analog, or the immense back catalog of wonderful music that never made the transition to digital. Those are the driving factors for most of us who love LPs.

So: what are YOUR thoughts on the subject? Fad, or trend?
audiogon_bill
Sales of new vinyl records definitely seem to be on the upswing. Five years ago, new vinyl releases were done on a limited basis and were carried at the few remaining independant record stores as more or less a fetish item. There were sections for DJ's, sections for 7" spinning punk rockers, and then there were the occasional indy rock LP's. Every once in a while, I'd spot a (generally poorly done) "audiophile" type re-release, but they were often of 60's and 70's bands that were somewhat influential to the indy scene.

Over the past five years, there's been a general increase in the amount of vinyl out there. The local place I go has doubled its vinyl selection. In Boston, I believe the original Newberry Comics selection is about three times what it was three years ago and has hundreds of titles. It's an odd sort of reversal for anyone who painfully watched the vinyl racks replaced by CD racks throughout the late 80's and early 90's.

Most of the increase has been in the indy rock type releases. Record stores are ordering more than two or three copies of new releases. Indy labels like matador are going back and re-releasing albums from the last decade.

I think one of the things that's really helped things take off is the inclusion of a digital download. A few labels even throw in a full CD or let you download FLACs (as opposed to the more common 192 kbs MP3). I'd say at least 70% of the new releases I buy these days come with a certificate for download.
I'd like to think that there is an uptick of interest vinyl sales.
We're focused greatly on turntable based systems as the focus of my business remains steeped in two-channel music playback. We've been selling turntables at a steady clip and are even in the process of adding a couple more carefully chosen lines.
While many of our turntable sales are upgrades for our existing customers, we do see a decent percentage of new users either "putting a toe in the (analog) water" to see how they like it and also those that had walked away from vinyl years ago (decades ago). Most have been craving more from their systems and are coming back to it (vinyl) as an additional way of getting closer to the music they so enjoy.
Blackbird Audio/Gallery Product Page
"also those that had walked away from vinyl years ago (decades ago)."

I suspect that a lot of the new interest in turntables are people with record collections already that realized that they are not as antiquated as they were lead to believe way back when.

My local record store recently opened a room dedicated to new vinyl. The store is always packed yet the vinyl room is generally empty. That says a lot.
From Merriam-Webster:
re-viv-al
noun
1: an act or instance of reviving: the state of being revived: as
a: renewed attention to or interest in something
b: a new presentation or publication of something old
Is there a "renewed attention" is vinyl? Yes. Current news articles on vinyl are what prompted the original post.
Is "a new presentation or publication of something old" going on? Yes. Old LPs are being reissued and sold at a steadily increasing rate. Also, vinyl presentations of new music are being issued by record companies which would not have done so just a few years ago. More and more artists are ensuring that LPs of their music be available.
My fifteen year old daughter wants a turntable.
My twenty-two year old son is getting a turntable.
A few years ago, I mentioned to a young service tech at CompUsa that I am considering getting an A-D converter to put the music on my LPs into my computer.
"Why would you want to do that?" he cautioned.
"Records sound better."
Go to a nearby Guitar Center, ask an employee if LPs sound better than CDs. "Duh", he will say, looking at you like the old fuddy-duddy you are.
"Only old people think CDs or downloads sound better than records", said my daughter.
"But I've, always, liked vinyl best. You know I've, always, listened, mostly, to records."
"But, Dad. You're weird."
I believe it is both a trend and fad. Fad first as the younger generation of music listeners rush to get records and jam out together while looking at cool record graphics and sipping cool-aid, yeah that. The few of those listeners who are basket case cave dwellers like some of us will more than likely continue to progress to full vinyl addicts, and that is where it becomes a trend, but only for a limited few. As it is now, it is only a trend for a limited few including us old farts, you will have to pry my MOFI's, Blue Notes and Analog Productions and the rest of my 4500 plus LP collection from my cold hands when I am expired from this life.

I do have a positive belief that this niche and trendy market will exist for years to come. The movement is too big and strong to fight the statistics; that is why record companies are jumping on the bandwagon.

At issue is marketing and that is where there seems to be a big hole. I have seen lots of movies in the last few years where records are strategically located in a camera shot, even for a second, but it happens a lot and just enough to catch your attention especially if you are an avid LP addict such as I am. Is Hollywood promoting LP's using subliminal video sequencing in movies? Don't know, but I like it.

Got to get back upstairs and spin some Bing Crosby White Christmas for the wife.
Ciao,
Audioquest4life