This past month, Record Store Day was celebrated across the country, and for me it was a big reminder that vinyl's best days may still be ahead of us. An entirely new generation is embracing vinyl alongside the passionate audiophiles who never stopped. Record Store Day first began in 2007 when some enterprising record store owners brainstormed an idea that now seems obvious in retrospect. And once or twice a year ever since, a growing number of stores around the nation (and increasingly overseas) have observed the informal holiday. The press has taken notice, and the music industry itself is accepting it more and more each year. Some may dismiss it as a calculated marketing exercise – a reason to get feet in the door – but I'm not that cynical.
There's something special happening here that retailers should be aware of and take notice: a new culture is emerging that simultaneously embraces both old and new ways of listening to music.
What's fascinating to me is that even as the recording industry is struggling to find surer footing, vinyl is in the midst of a resurgence that's posting some incredible numbers. In 2013, sales of vinyl records reportedly hit six million, up from about a million just five years earlier. That's more than just a trend – that's the re-emergence of a subculture and a retail product that defines it.
After more than 15 years of music sales moving to CDs and digital music files, reports from 2013 are showing that vinyl sales are up more than 30 percent. So why is this happening? Why now, in the midst of a digital technology revolution that has allowed us to put 1,000 songs in our pocket (or stream them), would we see a growing swell of popularity for such an "impractical" way of listening to music? Is the rising swell of popularity in EDM and DJ culture a driving force in this resurgence, or could it be something more visceral?
CD sales have been declining every year for more than a decade because in a world where digital music files are so easy to play and transfer, legally or otherwise, CDs are effectively a thing of the past. Most of us carry an iOS or Android device that serves as a music player for our daily use as well. It seems that in a world where CDs are obsolete, and digital files are intangible, the vinyl record still has a physical value that gives you your money's worth. If the music industry wants to survive, it had better pay attention to why people are buying records. We seem to have embraced lower quality sound for the sake of portability and storage. Despite this obvious truth, vinyl still matters.
I'm a big Springsteen fan. I've built my own collection of his best albums in vinyl over the years and they carry with them a sentimental value that no MP3 could ever replace. Any serious collector of vinyl albums would agree that there's something tactile and visceral about them. There's an appeal in hunting for the right LP, the packaging and artwork, the liner notes where I can find the credits of who the players are and who produced or engineered the track, the feel of the platters themselves, not to mention the obvious sonic superiorities. These are things that simply cannot be replicated or improved upon. Vinyl creates an experience for the listener like no other.
In truth, Guitar Center's selection of vinyl is limited. It's not our core offering, but our customers definitely ask about it. The experience of listening to vinyl is about creating a tangible connection to the music. It's about creating a feeling, and that's exactly what our business is built on. The allure of music is universal, and a teenager sharing her dad's Beatles collection for the first time may be inspired to pick up a guitar. Or the retro-futuristic production of a Kraftwerk LP may generate interest in vintage synths.
I find it appropriate that Record Store Day is celebrated each spring around the same time as Earth Day. Both occasions dedicate themselves to the preservation of something invaluably and incalculably important to us. Vinyl records can't be enjoyed on your morning jog, or in your car on the way into work. Vinyl forces us to slow down and stop for a moment to hear the music from a device not easily placed in our pockets. Perhaps that's its greatest gift in this fast-paced world, and the true reason why it's more popular than ever. I believe vinyl will continue on its upward trajectory as more and more people begin to understand the true value of the experience, and if I'm right, you might find yourself looking to buy a record player sometime soon. In the digital era where the iPod is supreme, who would have thought that was possible?
