Advertisement While CD sales continue a double-digit decline, sales of vinyl albums have doubled in the past year to 6 million and turntable sales increased 80 percent last year. The resurgence is being led not just by Baby Boomers nostalgic for gatefold album sleeves and the pops and scratches of favorite records but by college-age consumers discovering the elaborate artwork of vinyl-album packaging for the first time and entranced by the grittier, less-artificial sound quality.
“We’re seeing the (vinyl) resurgence in all walks of life: from
50-year-old guys who want high-quality product to match their high-end stereos to 19-year-old kids who are sick of the minimalist Ikea design that has plagued dorm rooms for the last decade,” said Ken Shipley, co-owner of the Numero Group, a Chicago label that specializes in reissues of underground soul music. “Vinyl is the new books.”
This year, 40 percent of the label’s income is coming from vinyl sales.
Sundazed Music, a New York-based reissue label, has seen vinyl sales surge 500 percent in the past three years. The percentage is far lower at major labels but still significant enough to warrant not only reissues of classic titles such as the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” and Radiohead’s “OK Computer” but new titles as well.
Warner Brothers sold 12,000 vinyl copies of the White Stripes’ 2007 release “Icky Thump” and sold out a 5,000-copy run of a $115.98 vinyl boxed set of Metallica’s latest album, “Death Magnetic.” Nonesuch’s vinyl version of Wilco’s 2007 album “Sky Blue Sky” has sold 15,000 copies.
Matador Records, home to such bands as Cat Power, Yo La Tengo and Mission of Burma, is seeing a double-digit percentage increase in vinyl sales. “We can’t press it fast enough,” said Matador general manager Patrick Amory.
“You have to get in line now at these pressing plants, which is amazing, because vinyl was virtually non-existent two or three years ago,” said Bill Gagnon, senior vice president of catalog marketing at EMI Music. The turnaround time at pressing plants has doubled to two months because of high demand, said Robert Griffin, who runs the Scat label out of Cleveland.
The disadvantages of vinyl are numerous: tough to transport, bulky to store, easy to damage.
MP3 files have enabled consumers to essentially pack their entire music collection in a device the size of a cigarette box and listen to it any time, anywhere. Clearly, digital is the future of music, and the re-emergence of vinyl won’t change that. But hard-core music lovers are a demanding bunch, and they still want a tangible connection to the music that a digital file can’t provide.
“There’s an art to making a vinyl album, and it invites serious listening,” said Matador’s Amory.
“For me, vinyl is more of a personal listening experience,” said Ben Meyerson, 22, who is studying journalism at the University of Maryland. “I have my turntable in my room, and it’s hands-on — a compensation for the lack of physicality you get from a hard drive and iTunes. It fills a void in my musical experience.”
There are also legions of album junkies who insist that no digital format, whether compact disc or MP3, can compare to the sonic richness of a stylus penetrating the grooves of a vinyl record.
“There’s a huge difference,” said singer Sam Phillips. “It has a little grit and texture compared to digital. It’s heartbreaking not to have all that sound on an MP3 file. I love my vinyl, and I play it all the time. Nothing sounds like it.”
The new market for albums is in part directed at these audiophiles, with heavier 180-gram discs made out of so-called “virgin” vinyl (which contains no recycled plastic), more resistant to the degradation and warping that accompany cheaper materials. With fewer pressing plants and more expensive material, the packaging can get pricey: Some vinyl albums sell for double the price of a CD.
