Vinyl sales up 745% on Amazon.... news article about vinyl resurgence

What about one-tenth of one percent?
http://blog.thecurrent.org/2014/02/40-years-of-album-sales-data-in-one-handy-chart/

According to the RIAA, the year CD was rolled out (1983) CD sales represented 0.1 percent of all physical sales.

I drove more than 100 miles to check out the first CD shop to open in the state I was living in at the time. Except for Billy Joel it was all classical music selections.

So even though the fact was in that year the format represented 0.1 percent of sales -- and that wouldn't have been 'much to me' either -- really means nothing.
It would have meant nothing to me had I known the figures. Why would it have? I was interested in the new format.

The fact that vinyl sales are increasing by those percentages is still pretty interesting given tanking sales elsewhere and the fact we're in a depression. I think that's where the interest and focus is coming from, the attempt to identify a positive trend in a economic quicksand environment, aside from all the hip implications and cultural psychoanalysis.

 

Not to mention is was the biggest selling format and then all but disappeared, essentially it died. What we a re seeing now is a lazarus moment so yes vinyl sales in 2012 $177 million, what were the figures in 2013? and what in 2014? a tiny amount compared to CD, downloads or streamed songs joined together sure but still statistically important.
If they double every year as they have for the last few it makes the format a comeback kid I say almost a miracle

 

I could respond to these points but I've already proposed dropping this line of discussion/arguing. Just let it go, please.

 

I agree with you.

Yes it is an interesting come back i totally agree. However i'm pretty sure we won't be seeing hords of people exchanging their phones and pods for turntables....no way, that was the music industry wishes right now (a format that can't be duplicated) but that won't happen at least not with vinyl definitely....

 

No one expects or even desires this as far as I know. I'm certainly not giving up my digital media just because I also like vinyl. These things can co-exist, your CD's don't dissolve when you buy a turntable.

 

Exactly. That whole argument reeks of straw man. I don't think anyone is saying that vinyl is going to take over the market and render the iPod an expensive paper weight. I think we all agree that digital music in its various formats is here to stay and will remain dominant.

 

kk i 100% agree that was my point too since the beggining.

 

Yep. However, gun to my head I'd choose my TT over my iphone

 

Interesting. I don't think I've ever been called a hipster. Or moronic, at least not to my face.

But the people you're referencing perceive the facts on the ground as chest thumping and it seems -- at least by the looks of the posts on this thread -- pretty upsetting to some people. Cue the 'delusion/nostalgia/hipster/can't be happening/too little to count/but why why why?' crowd.

That's because you're motivated by your interests and you are not interested in attacking other people's interests in formats you are not involved with. Kudos for that.

Again you see the armchair psychoanalysis as you point out. "Certain nostalgia," "allegiance", just wow. I don't give a rat's ass about nostalgia. I want superior sound and I get it with vinyl records IMO.
Allegiance? Sheesh. I had no 'allegiance' to vinyl records when I went to digital and have no 'allegiance' now. I support what my ears like. I went back to what they like better.

Just music carriers? No, they appear to be red-flag icons, unpleasant memes to a number of people, on this forum anyway. Threads like these normally prompt some usual suspects (Spidey!) racing to post the identical post for the 1000th time. For these people, discussion of vinyl records are some kind of irrestistible prompt -- they have to chime in to say they don't like vinyl records because of X and why is anyone interested when Y and Z have been proved...again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again.

I'm puzzled as to why they care so much. They certainly have that evangelist zeal, that's for sure.

Me? I love vinyl records. It matters not a whit to me whether anyone else does or not. In fact, I wish the 'resurgence' had not taken place. I'd rather it be like it was in the late 90s / early 2000s when used records cost change.

 

Why would anyone think that? I'm pretty sure no one anywhere is suggesting that vinyl will be the main carrier of music.

You see I don't think you need to 'exchange' anything the two methods of playing music can compliment each other, why does it have to be a black and white either or?

I don't understand why you seem to think buying a turntable will mean you have to exchange your iPod?

 

He doesn't think that. He baited you with a straw man argument.

 

Thank god I just listen to music, I have no idea why you have to have an 'allegiance' to a music carrier.
I just prefer vinyl, for it's sound and the visual experience in collecting and playing; that increasing numbers share that enjoyment is great (except when I'm doing the weekly charity shop sweep)

 

May I just correct you here. It was never dead. Indie labels have been continuously putting out vinyl since the 1980s. I guess the first time that I started to notice the majors putting out vinyl was in the early noughties, but I wasn't really paying attention to major label vinyl releases in the 90s, although clearly they were releasing them because they exist. I still remember the Dylan reissues appearing in stores in 2003 (maybe '04 but I think it was '03).

 

Just wow? Since that quote was mine, I have to say that I take offense. In the context of the post in which I used the word "nostalgia", it was quite clearly a positive reference. And my use of the word "allegiance" was similarly benign.

To spell it out, I was saying that since my preference is for CDs, naturally I'm going to take a pro-CD position in discussions. At the same time, I acknowledged that LPs have their strong points. Nothing inflammatory about that. Context again: nowhere in any of my posts will you see a put-down of people who prefer vinyl.

There's a huge difference between preferring CDs and mocking those who don't.

 

So would I!

 

I'd take a Milli Vanilli CD over an iPhone. But I know I'm in the minority who detest iTunes from a usability point of view.

 

Well dude we are talking about the mighty vinyl resurgance growing bigger and bigger each year you know....you might not have the expectation to be the main carrier of music again...but I bet you are one of the exceptions here.....

What i would really love to know is the real expectation you guys have about the format for the future, currently is 2%. Being realistic.

 

Usability? Just grab a USB cable and connect it to your receiver. Not hard.

 

I think the surge in sales is mostly due to vinyl aficionados indulging in buying more vinyl because there's more to choose from, followed by a lot of people who buy it because it looks cool. I highly doubt there is a significant number of new vinyl die-hards who are actually listening to what they bought. Vinyl is like art to younger people today. It looks cool and they feel cool owning it, but they don't listen to it. I have a couple of online friends who actively listen to vinyl and always have, and buy whatever title they're interested in on vinyl rather than CD or digital. I have an offline friend who buys vinyl to collect it but doesn't play it, and this is a new endeavor for her. I can admit that I've bought vinyl for this exact reason, but I'd also done that long before vinyl was "in" again, just not much of it.

 

That's a deceiving statistic tho as the global increase wasn't near that.

 

I guess we can swap personal anecdotes all day long, but the young people I know do actually listen to it. One of the guys I work with just upgraded from one of the toy USB tables to the entry-level Rega, precisely because he does listen to the records he buys, and wanted to hear them sound better. I don't doubt that there are young people who buy records and don't play them, but I don't think that's anywhere near as prevalent as the "it's a hipster/retro/cool/fad/novelty" contingent would like to believe.

 

yes kind of some people get obligued to ....

I bought the James - The Gathering sounds boxset for the 2 cds that include rarities but also a vinyl which i don't need, same with the boxset Nevermind the bollocks bought it beacause of the cd's but then again a vinyl inside.

I mean not all the time happens but yes from time to time.

 

"Nostalgia" has been used as a catch all to explain generally why people who go back to vinyl do so. It has been used that why in probably at least a dozen threads I've looked it. In this use it's diminutive and dismissive, not positive. It depreciates what audiophile vinyl enthusiasts contend.

Since it is used that way, I still have to say WOW. It is depreciating because, despite people like myself and the many others on this forum who argue points of SQ, we are routinely dismissed as only having nostalgia for the medium, as if that matters a whit to people like me. It's ridiculous. I didn't care a whit about nostalgia when I sold off my record collection in 1988~1989, I didn't when I began replacing it in 1995, and I still don't.

I dub to 24/96, CDR and even to metal cassette and none of those media equal to my ears and certainly do not surpass the SQ of the source: vinyl LPs and singles.

If and when I get the digital equipment that can handle sample rates at least 3X or 4X what my DAC/ADC can at 96, I might find equivalent or nearly equivalent SQ. At least that's what I've been told by an industry professional whose opinion I trust.

"Allegiance" may seem benign to you but it seems a charged, subtext laden word choice here since, again, it would suggest to the careful reader a choice of loyalty rather than one of consideration of SQ (perception based on experience), for example as in the way people argue with such vehemence over the superiority of CD SQ over analog LP without, for example, having done so with similar to the equipment one poster has compared with but still denying even the possibility the actual resulting SQ might be better with vinyl than with a CD. When the anti-analog zealot cannot create a convert in the vinyl fan, out come the theorems that purpose to 'prove' to the record buyer they cannot actually hear what they claim they like about vinyl records. On and on and on. So yes, allegiance is a charged term and in this context it is a mistake to believe it's benign. I think you'll see that once you expain and articulate the reasons for your allegiance and others do so for theirs, if they actually have allegiances.

In my case, I listen to vinyl records 95% of the time, but I don't give a **** about any allegiance to whatever because I don't have one, and I can easily believe a digital edition of my favorite music might have better sound quality under some conditions -- those conditions being ones I don't have now and I cannot afford now.

So until I can get my hands on one of those $5,000 DACs that sample 3X or 4X beyond what mine can do, I'll stick with the records because they sound so damn much better to me here and now compared to other formats. If and when I get one of those super machines, I'll dub my vinyl and put it away or maybe even sell it if I can overcome my distrust over the longevity prospects and degradation prospects of the digital media -- i.e. how long will the drives work compared to how long my tt and carts will work and so forth.

Till then, my records and I will continue to date, but we have the understanding that we can date other people should conditions change.

 

I have no need to apologize for a poor choice of words. It's quite clear that I did not use "nostalgia" as an insult, considering I used it in reference to MYSELF as one of the things I LIKE about vinyl!!! To claim that I used the word as an attack is to be very creative in the interpretation of that post.

Nope. Again, context is everything. (Why must I keep pointing out the obvious?) Like I've already said, I appreciate both LPs and CDs. But I prefer CDs, so that's where my "allegiance" lies. And my postings on this subject are not disrespectful, despite any attempts to claim otherwise by twisting around the meaning of the words I use.

I could have instead said "..so I can see the other side, but CD is where my sympathy lies..." and you'd probably find some way to jump on my usage of that word also.



As a footnote, sound quality is not always the sole aspect that people take into consideration when it comes to declaring a favorite format (for those who have one). And even where it IS their only criteria, it's still a subjective call. But that's for another thousand threads.