Gille Thibault
24/11/18
We know all
too well the physical market for recorded music such as cd's has been
decimated by digital technology. However, for the past ten years, one format
from the past has been more resistant than the others to the massacre the good old vinyl record has stopped
disappearing!
Sudden and
unexpected growth
In 2016 sales of vinyl records in the United Kingdom reached
their highest level in 25 years, announced the British music industry. In the course of this year more than 3.2 million vinyl records were sold which is the
highest score since 1991 and a 53% increase in sales compared to 2015.
According to figures from the GfK panelist published by SNEP, the National Union of Phonographic publishing, vinyl sales have quadrupled in 5 years. Specialized stores account for the bulk of sales with a 90%
market share. While vinyls remain considered a niche product. This medium
represents 12% of physical music sales, at €298 million in 2017.
What could
explain this sudden renewed interest in vinyl?
It is not
because of its tenacity that vinyl has resurfaced after 30 years of wandering.
Then how has it survived time and the emergence of new media?
Unsurpassed sound purity
One of the first assets of this medium is undeniably the purity of the
sound. It is often
said that LP differs from CDs and other digital formats by its
"warmer", "more organic", "softer" sound.
A Proust’s madeleine
Nevertheless, the purity of
the sound is obviously not enough to explain this great comeback.
Technical terms set aside, for a lot of buyers vinyl records echo a time dear
to their hearts or a time to idealize. But the revival of this industry highlights the need to take a step back, as we are in an era of over-saturation due in part to the Internet and therefore to streaming services.
Nowadays, people are overwhelmed by the information and the astronomical amount of music that comes out every
week. As a result, people want to disconnect from the internet and social media in
order to take their time to enjoy an album.
For some record sellers the
revival of vinyl is due to its status as a “musical object". Indeed, vinyl
requires you to "make a choice" which you tend to lose with the
unlimited playlists of streaming sites like Deezer, Youtube and Spotify. The
experience at the record store, according to them, allows the customer to discover
new artists or new records that are sometimes not found on the Internet.
Among other things, for some buyers the aesthetic of the product surpasses its
prime quality. The simple fetishism of the object remains powerful.
Is vinyl
likely to last several more decades?
It’s possible that in the near future, vinyl could be the only last survivor
of recorded music. Fans are willing to spend huge amounts of money. As a
matter of fact, on average, it costs between 15 and 20 euros to buy your
favourite record. But some discs,
elevated to the rank of collector's items, are being sold for small fortunes
The limits
of a jammed industry
Despite this constant increase, it stills only represent 7.6% of sales of physical
media today.
Vinyl pressing is a tedious and highly technical manufacturing activity. Machines are heavy, expensive and
complex, and above all, no one has manufactured them since the 1970s. There are
still about ten factories in the world capable of pressing records on an
industrial scale, and all of them have fully saturated order books.
In addition, to reproduce a quality sound on vinyl, everything is a matter
of high standards and precision. A
job that is costly and time-consuming but it is essential to express all the sound
qualities of the vinyl format.
Therefore, the factories are simply overwhelmed by the explosion of new
demand. We can also add that vinyl sales are not profitable, at best, manufacturing costs are mostly covered. But the volumes are too small to be a major source
of income for both the producer and the artist.
As a solution, some majors are helping. Sony Music has confirmed
to the Japanese press that a vinyl pressing plant will soon reopen in March
2018. Almost 30 years after the closure of its last plant in 1989, Sony is the
first of the three majors to re-launch the industry. It can certainly mean that
industry giants feel that this market could be more than a small niche in the
future.
Thibault, thank you for your arcticle. The subject was unexpected but really interesting! To be honest, I thought that the recent trend of bying vinyl record was already dying, so it is good to learn that it is not the case!
ReplyDeleteDo you know if there is a lot of new artists who decide to use vinyl record to sell their album? I guess young singers don't try to enter this market, especillay if their public is young as well...
Eva
thank you Eva for your feedback and this very relevant question!
ReplyDeleteAs surprising as it may seem, most new artists who have signed a contract with a label are required to release their music in physical version that means as a CD or vinyl. This strategy is due in particular to an increasing demand, which is not only composed of nostalgic people, because one out of three record buyers is under 30 years old.
For some time now vinyl has been back in fashion amoung young listeners.
In addition, the lesser- known artists and their labels don't have much to lose when it comes to vinyl pressing because the number of records produced will depend on the artist's popularity and there will always be fans to buy some.
Thibault, thank you for your article.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that this incredible passion for listening to vinyl records made the vinyl format returns on the market.
As you point out, Sony Music is planning to relaunch the vinyl industry by reopening an old plant. Now that customers can find high end equipment playback for a deeper sound quality, will it boost hi fi market too ? Since people who can afford vinyl records have enough purchasing power to invest in better and expensive sound devices too.