Yet another year of sales growth for the vinyl format (albeit a more modest one).

[Taketheflame]

Hey all,

Well, it looks like 2022 was another year of growth for the vinyl format, albeit a more modest gain compared to 2021, according to initial reports.

https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2023/01/02/vinyl-sales-in-the-us-2022/

The following quote from the article is a good summary, for those looking to skip reading the whole article (the 41.891 = millions of units sold).

"Vinyl album sales for the year of 2022 stand at 41.891, which is a 3.6% increase when compared to 2021. The vinyl format continues to make up the bulk of all physical album sales–with 63% of physical sales in the vinyl format. Limited stock of factories compared to the huge number of labels worldwide helps contribute to supply constraints for vinyl records."

Some reports from around September suggested sales were up 22% the first half of 2022, despite finishing the year at a 3.6% increase.

My guesstimate? In addition to production and supply chain bottlenecks, the end of most pandemic related economic restrictions and high inflation also contributed to stopping what would probably have otherwise been another double-digit growth year for vinyl. Still a good year for the format overall.

 

[Ron Brown]

Good, good...

 

[Condorsat]

From my perspective. New Vinyl is coming along nicely. Not so much for legacy (pre 1990). I bought fewer legacy LP's last year than at anytime during the past 8 years (since I started keeping track of my purchases). 3 reasons that I can think of.

1. Legacy Vinyl is continuing to climb in price .. albums that I use to spend $5 or less on are now going for $15+. I'm not paying that.
2. The old legacy inventory (especially popular titles) is getting long in the tooth.
3. I own most of the albums I wanted (low hanging fruit anyway) in my youth .. been collecting for a while.

Oh well .. probably take me decades to spin every record I own now anyway.

 

[Late Boomer]

Some reports from around September suggested sales were up 22% the first half of 2022, despite finishing the year at a 3.6% increase.

Hipsters bought half a dozen LPs to put on their shelves, all the other sane people keep streaming.

 

[Wolfman181]

I agree with what is being said here. 2022 has changed what and how I buy my music. Of course I buy all vinyl records. At first it was a good idea to buy legacy albums as the value of say a first pressing had increases in value. Plus one could still find a quality example out there.But as the year went on this changed. The market value started to drift towards newer examples with special pressing or special engineering. These are the albums that would increase in value very quickly. 6 months to a year they double in value or more. For a collector like me this changed the album choice from say a first pressing to a 180g remastered colored vinyl. They ware the ones now that seem to have value in the market and see values of over $100 dollars. This is just my observations and thoughts.

 

[ducati_EL34]

Hipsters bought half a dozen LPs to put on their shelves, all the other sane people keep streaming.

Why would I stream music, when I can walk to my cabinet, pull an LP out, remove it from the sleeve, place it on the platter, and place the stylus on the LP?

 

[Ron Brown]

Why would I stream music, when I can walk to my cabinet, pull an LP out, remove it from the sleeve, place it on the platter, and place the stylus on the LP?

I listen to Sirius in the car purely for convenience when I'm not listening to my CDs or the digital files I have ripped from records. Or when I'm in the shop involved in a heavily-hands-on project and I don't want to flip over the record or tape. Those opportunities make good breaks, though...

 

[NH-MAN]

Hipsters bought half a dozen LPs to put on their shelves, all the other sane people keep streaming.

Maybe respond to threads that "have" relevance to you instead of taking a dump here on your way by.

What is done with them is irrelevant, and doesn't change the fact that more were sold

 

[Late Boomer]

Why would I stream music, when I can walk to my cabinet, pull an LP out, remove it from the sleeve, place it on the platter, and place the stylus on the LP?

You would stream to avoid walking to a cabinet, pulling an LP out, removing it from the sleeve, placing it on the platter, and placing the stylus on the LP, duh. Not to mention shelling out money on new records.

My friend's daughter who is 16 was gifted an LP for Christmas. Dad bought her - make a guess - a suitcase-shaped plastic Victrola. He says she liked the idea of buying LPs for $40 a pop and hanging them on a wall in her room, so cute.

I had suggested him to throw the gifted LP away, but he did not listen. Now he has realized it is a money pit and is looking for cheaper options. Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.

 

[ducati_EL34]

You would stream to avoid walking to a cabinet, pulling an LP out, removing it from the sleeve, placing it on the platter, and placing the stylus on the LP, duh. Not to mention shelling out money on new records.

I don’t have a problem spending money on new records.

I like getting up and putting an album on the TT. I like owning the album, as opposed to spending money on a streaming service.

 

[Ron Brown]

I don’t have a problem spending money on new records.

I like getting up and putting an album on the TT. I like owning the album, as opposed to spending money on a streaming service.

A streaming service that may arbitrarily decide not to carry a particular album or song anymore.

 

[onepixel]

Asshat trolls aside...

I bought a lot of records in 2022. More that I have in the last 5 years combined. Mostly new and newer releases and from artists new to me. Only bought a handful of old legacy LPs. I'm loving the resurgence of vinyl and lot of newer releases include downloads, so that's cool. It's got me stoked and back into music.

A lot of smaller bands will test the waters and release limited editions. Sometimes in small batches in one year. The value of those have increased considerably. One metalcore album has increased 10 fold in one year. Which is pretty cool.

I briefly tried streaming and it ain't for me.

 

[Condorsat]

I've been streaming since the MOG days back in 2012. Nice but it's ephemeral with no control over content, pricing, availability .. etc.

So far .. so good ... but ...

 

[GChief]

I added to the number quite a bit during 2022 RSD's

 

[grillebilly]

I listen to new music all the time, streaming from every source available to me. The objective is to find something really good that I can buy the vinyl of.
Hopefully the thread doesn’t devolve into the same old argument for and against physical media.
I have been doing something I never thought I would, that’s buying digital files of great albums they haven’t made otherwise. I don’t see myself ever downloading them, it’s solely sending money to the artists for the pleasure of streaming for free.

 

[Taketheflame]

Hipsters bought half a dozen LPs to put on their shelves

With all due respect, I remember people sharing similar sentiments about vinyl when sales began to increase in the late 2000's

From my perspective. New Vinyl is coming along nicely. Not so much for legacy (pre 1990). I bought fewer legacy LP's last year than at anytime during the past 8 years (since I started keeping track of my purchases). 3 reasons that I can think of.

1. Legacy Vinyl is continuing to climb in price .. albums that I use to spend $5 or less on are now going for $15+. I'm not paying that.
2. The old legacy inventory (especially popular titles) is getting long in the tooth.
3. I own most of the albums I wanted (low hanging fruit anyway) in my youth .. been collecting for a while.

Oh well .. probably take me decades to spin every record I own now anyway.

Yeah, I'm glad I bought some good original pressings of legacy titles back when they were cheap!

With many titles even climbing into 3 figure territory, I'm thankful for all the reissues in recent years.

 

[E-Stat]

Its amazing to me that some folks believe that the only alternative to physical media is streaming.

It is not.

First of all, virtually all vinyl today was recorded digitally. It's not at all like it was prior to the early 1980s when they were sourced by analog tape. I still have lots of legacy vinyl but don't see any advantage to playing a digital recording on a turntable vs a music server sourced by the 24 bit master. Where the music remains yours and cannot be removed.

 

[Condorsat]

With all due respect, I remember people sharing similar sentiments about vinyl when sales began to increase in the late 2000's
Yeah, I'm glad I bought some good original pressings of legacy titles back when they were cheap!

With many titles even climbing into 3 figure territory, I'm thankful for all the reissues in recent years.

Yea .. I remember paying $30 for an excellent condition pre-owned copy of David Bowie Ziggy Stardust MFSL original. My mother-in-law said "why don't you sell it"

.. Can't bring myself to do it. I would miss the way it makes me feel when spinning it too much .. me thinks.

 

[MER71]

I listen to Sirius in the car purely for convenience when I'm not listening to my CDs or the digital files I have ripped from records. Or when I'm in the shop involved in a heavily-hands-on project and I don't want to flip over the record or tape. Those opportunities make good breaks, though...

I enjoy Sirius in my car. I am on the $5 a month plan.

 

[RunOutGroove]

I guess that I like the idea that vinyl is still a thing, because I still play LPs and I like the idea that music is still released on that format. Still, I have to admit that in a lot of ways it is a kind of flawed format and for my taste it's really gotten far too expensive. Fortunately for me, my taste is really broad and runs to odd old recordings which I still seem to be able to find on the cheap. I manage to find estate sales, pop up record stores and regular record stores with bargain bins where I scope the cheap old used records. If the market continues the way it has been though and records are mostly $20 and up (I still buy records that I really like for less than $5, sometimes just a dollar or two), I'll give up on collecting LPs and just play what I already own. The upside though is that folks are dumping their CD collections and I'm happy to buy that stuff too, even if I don't have quite the same love for it as LPs. I still believe that CDs are really the most democratic physical medium and that LPs by comparison are a kind of less practical, more luxury type of product...