Vinyl Making a Comeback?

February 3rd, 2010 by Tony | 13 Comments

vinyl records comeback

Most of you who DJ know that the availability of digital music – combined with the popularity of great tools like Serato, Traktor, and Vestax’s VCI-300 – have greatly reduced demand for vinyl. But is vinyl dead?

Have you sold all your vinyl and completely “gone digital”? Or do you still have crates and crates of vinyl lying around collecting dust? Well I’ve spent so much time and money building my collection, I can’t bear to part with it for a fraction of what I paid for it! When I do think about selling, I sift through my records, but then the cover art brings back such fond memories of past gigs, friends, etc.

So, to somewhat justify keeping my vinyl, I took a quick pulse for what’s going on with vinyl today. Boy was I surprised.

Nielsen SoundScan reports:

“…a shocker from Nielsen’s 2009 numbers came in the form of vinyl sales, which were up 33 percent last year. (For comparison’s sake, however, vinyl sales grew by a whopping 89 percent between 2007 and 2008.) With 2.5 million vinyl units sold in 2009, Nielsen still said that more albums were sold than any other year in history (keeping in mind that SoundScan’s history only goes back to 1991, a few years after the advent of the CD).” (excerpt from ars technica) In contrast, CD sales were down 8% in 2009!

In fact, the New York Times recently reported that vinyl (and turntables) are gaining in sales and that Best Buy(!) is stocking vinyl albums in about 50 of its stores (and counting!).

And events like Hot Wax, an all-vinyl dance party that just kicked off in SF, indeed reinforce that vinyl is nowhere near dead. Imagine…carrying a crate and bag of records to a gig – without a laptop – just for ol’ times sake!

Vinyl’s small resurgence, however, doesn’t mean that its sales will ever reach pre-digital music days. “33 times a very small number is still a very small number,” as the article from ars technica puts it. But who knows, maybe if we hold onto our vinyl a few years, the law of supply and demand will kick in, and vinyl will be worth more again?

Wanna trade records?

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Tags: 33, 45, records, vinyl, vinyl debate, wax

Mere February 3rd, 2010 at 07:56

last time i counted i was at 20 or 30k records. i don’t remember

all i know is i’m not selling

too much time & effort seeking out classic / rare shit.

i even took the time [like 10years ago] to catalog all of my records on a spreadsheet.

shit took FOREVER!

RE Q
Meko February 3rd, 2010 at 10:52

There’s a group of DJs in LA that meet up and trade and sell vinyl. Kind of like a swap meet for vinyl. I think they are called Beat Swap or something like that. I don’t know how successful or the quality of records you find because most DJ’s won’t want to trade or sell their records unless they are crap.

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bpmz February 3rd, 2010 at 11:24

a true vinyl junkie never sells his wax….there is definitely no parting with mine…i cant walk into any establishment that sells records and not cop a stack!

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Tony February 3rd, 2010 at 19:39

@Mere – wow, that’s impressive! How/where do you store that many records?! I commend you for cataloging! Don’t know if I’d have the patience for that. Impressive collection of mixes on this site, by the way!

@Meko – thanks for the info. on the swap! It’s a great idea…

@bpmz – great to hear you’re not selling either – diggin’ your mixes and nice interview by the way!

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dj kups February 3rd, 2010 at 22:36

the thing here in manila is you cannot find a record store who sells vinyls… you really need to be resourceful enough on where to DIG and find the perfect record for your set.

good thing Me and my other DJ Friends have a source in japan and in the US where we ask them to buy vinyls for us.

THE BAD THING ABOUT DJing in the PHILIPPINES is the coming out OF THAT DJ ACADEMY!

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Quixslvr February 4th, 2010 at 21:06

Man do i miss breaking the seal of a new album by rubbing in back and forth on my leg and then smelling the FRESH Vinyl as you open that bad boy up And the Art on the album covers too..

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mass of plastic February 4th, 2010 at 22:18

@Quixslvr – Good one! Or that paper cut under you nail when you try to cut the plastic or that dull key you use that just wont cut the plastic correctly. AH, good times.

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ADA February 6th, 2010 at 13:51

I’ll never stop seeking vinyl! it has a quality that no other format can duplicate. good to hear it’s on the rise!

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chosen1 February 10th, 2010 at 02:22

serato = digital = convenience
vinyl = analog = quality

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Cutso March 7th, 2010 at 20:18

Serato has brought me closer to my record collection. And with DJs selling their record collections, the pickings have been extra-good lately. Thank you Serato.

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Mere April 23rd, 2010 at 13:32

in response:

i have 3 of those 5X5 ikea shelves full of stuff that i use all the time

2 for 12″s [all in bpm order, based on the song i care about most on the 12"]

another for lps
[in alpha order based on time period]

the rest are kept in the garage in boxes & recycling bins.

to save space i keep doubles [12"s] in the same jacket. separated by the sleeve.

i need to sell off the crap i was keeping just cause it has a phrase or 2 in the acapella that i could use in a battle. i can just rip those to mp3 now.

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mark June 13th, 2010 at 06:00

I sold my entire vinyl collection in 1999 and then in 2006 located and purchased most of it back from ebay before finally selling it off again in 2007. I collect CD’s and Vinyl now. I can’t stand the whole I-Pod/Download thing.

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D’Jam Hassan June 22nd, 2010 at 09:35

I’m interested in buying import 12″ vinyl and old classic disco long play 12″… let me know!

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Vinyl Making a Comeback?

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