Fourty years after the sale of the first CD (The Visitors by ABBA), vinyl is still enjoying its resurgence in popularity among a new generation of listeners. So, what is behind this refreshed love of the vinyl record?
Fashion and style dictate that certain trends reappear from time to time, and as we’re not talking about vinyl trousers, this rule sometimes extends itself to cultural activities and products. Vinyl LPs are a perfect example of this.
With the sale of vinyl records at a 25-year high last year – the first year that the money made from vinyl sales overtook that of digital downloads – it is evident that younger audiences are embracing the ‘old way’ of enjoying music. We have seen large companies such as HMV and even supermarkets like Tesco and Asda embrace the way of vinyl – selling both classic records, such as Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, to modern artists like Amy Winehouse and Arctic Monkeys. But how did vinyl come back?
Mark Elliot, shop manager of Record Collector (the largest record shop in Sheffield) insists: “Vinyl never really went away for a lot of people, but the current levels of interest are something that we didn’t expect to see again.” Having joined the staff in the same record store almost 30 years ago, Mark has witnessed, first-hand, a change in his customers:
“During the mid-90s when the vinyl market shrunk, the average customer was male and of working age, but now it is more school age and students. One of the nice things that we have noticed is that parents are encouraging their kids to take an interest too.”
“it’s more enjoyable to take a record out of its sleeve and set the needle to just the right place – maybe it feels nostalgic…”
As we looked around the store, we noticed that the majority of customers appeared to be students (or of around the same age)… One of them was Sam Hodgkinson, a student from Sheffield Hallam University and a native to the city. So, what is the appeal of vinyl to young people? Sam explains: “I think there is a certain novelty to it, definitely, but I think that a lot of young people at the minute like to look to the past when it comes to music.”
Last year the top-selling vinyl artist was David Bowie, following his death in January 2016; he also had five of his albums featured in the UK Top 40 chart. So, perhaps Sam is right, as it certainly looks like the youth of today are quick to embrace the music of the past.
It seemed that Sam was also in agreement with Mark Elliot, explaining that he shares the interest with his parents and they often come hunting for different records together, and enjoy them together at home. “Even though you can download music or subscribe to Spotify, I think sometimes it’s more enjoyable to take a record out of its sleeve and set the needle to just the right place – maybe it feels nostalgic…”
So perhaps the love of vinyl comes not simply from the sound they present (though Mark insists that “the richness and warmth of the sound” has meant that it has always been his preferred medium), but perhaps from the permanence they seem to emanate, or, as Sam expresses, the ability to turn music into an activity, not simply something that is played in the background and taken for granted as we focus on something else…
But how did the long-playing vinyl record, which has now been around for 70 years, (successfully produced in 1948 by Columbia Records), manage to receive such a boost in popularity, that it has become a business capable of overtaking digital?
Mark Elliot says that the ‘Record Store Day’ – one day of the year where special vinyl releases are made specifically for the event – has had a lot to do with it: “people coming out to track down these releases, and in some cases camping outside shops overnight to do so.” The result of the interest in the special releases, led to an increased media coverage around the subject – vinyl.
“Having seen how well received all of this is the record companies have now started to invest in a format that they had previously washed their hands of, with the advent of CDs and digital”, Mark tells me.
And he may well be right. The Record Store Day was started in 2007 and is supported by the BBC. This, no doubt, gives vinyl records a huge platform across the UK and adds to the appeal to both those who are new to the medium, like Sam, or those, like Mark, who have been enjoying records for most of their lives.
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