Spinning back in time: vinyls are making a comeback

By Maite Sastre

Awall filled with posters of celebrities, looking down at the bed from their star status with their flawless, fabulous and fierce faces. Opposite is a square box with glass casing, which appears almost untouched due to the extensive care that has been bestowed on it. The box, a record player, is surrounded by more superstar faces, stacking up all around, ready to be played under the needle.

That sounds like the room of an angsty teen in a retro '90s movie, but in reality it could belong to an angsty teen in the non-fictitious world of 2023. In their 2022 U.S. Year-End Music Report, Luminate Group found that vinyl record sales surpassed digital album, CD and cassette tape sales, reaching their 17th year of growth.

One of the reasons for this unexpected comeback could be the COVID-19 pandemic. NBC News stated that since the start of the pandemic in 2019, vinyl sales experienced a 361% increase and quarantined young people were a driving force behind this growth.

Key players in this phenomena were Generation Z women, which Inside Radio lists as the largest demographic chunk in record sales.

“I like having the big vinyl covers in my room,” said Carly Lindback, a 21-year-old shopper at Hear Again Records. “I think that they have a retro aesthetic to them that adds to my decoration, while also showing off my love for music and supporting my favorite artists”

In 2022, the top-selling vinyl album was Taylor Swift’s Midnights, which sold a recordbreaking total of 945,000 vinyl LPs. Billboard stated that the runner-up best-selling albums were by Harry Styles, Olivia Rodrigo, Kendrick Lamar and Fleetwood Mac. Most of the artists composing the list are more recent creators, which is a reflection of the younger generation’s major role in this revival of an almost 100-year-old technology.

The demand is growing so rapidly that producers are struggling to keep up. VOA News found that when someone orders a record, it can take six to eight months for the buyer to receive it. They also stated that there have been shortages of materials required to produce vinyl LPs.

Possibly the most interesting fact about this phenomena is that even though sales of records are steadily increasing, most people still listen to their music digitally. Statista stated that only 50% of vinyl buyers own a record player. This shows that vinyl ownership today has a lot to do with a collector’s desire, rather than actually listening to this music. In an age of digital ownership, many people still wish to retain physical symbols of their fandom and admiration for artists, and vinyls have become an increasingly used outlet for this desire.

As time passes, people find new ways to express their devotion to their favorite artists, but the retro coolness of vinyls seems to be here to stay for a little while.