In a time where every song and artist is available through streaming platforms, music lovers have begun to return to a ‘60s medium for music consumption: vinyl.
Vinyl records have become an important aspect in the music industry, with music lovers and artists alike reinvesting their time and money in physical records.
“While we are in a world of Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, etc., the music is never really mine,” said Brian James, a freshman majoring in nursing. “When I own these physical copies of an album, I truly own it, and nobody can really ever take them away from me.”
In just the first six months of 2021, music lovers collectively purchased over 17 million vinyl records, boosting the revenue of records above that of CDs for the first time since the CD’s emergence in 1987. From sound quality and artwork collections to artist support and sentimental value, music lovers across the board have begun to invest in vinyl collections.
“There’s no other place you can get the sound you get on vinyl. Plus, when you collect vinyl, unlike CDs, you get a full experience,” said John Rosell, a freshman majoring in social science education. “You get to open the record and put it on the record player, and on the inside, there are bits of art that contain drawings, portraits, and lyrics. The experience is part of the charm of getting vinyl.”
Music labels and artists are answering the call to collect, and the marketing in music has begun to shift. Labels are meeting demand through promotions on exclusive presses, special reissues, and artistic packages and discs.
In addition, individual artists, such as Taylor Swift, are beginning to prompt their listeners to support buying physical mediums of music by marketing vinyl ahead of album releases. When “The Tortured Poets Department” was released, the album shattered vinyl records, selling over 1.4 million copies on just its first day on the market.
“I think a lot of people just do it because it’s a trendy thing. I think that through TikTok and X, fans of artists emphasize the importance of sales and having physical copies of one of your favorite artist’s merch to support them,” James said.
Artists are beginning to make their music to reflect vinyl listening norms, returning to the trend of creating albums, not simply collections of singles. Eminem’s 2024 album “The Death of Slim Shady” is labeled as a concept album, and it’s marketed to be listened to in order and all the way through.
With streaming, you can listen in any order rather than listening to the specific assortment artists pour their heart and soul into.
“They tell a specific story, and they want specific feelings to be felt throughout the whole thing,” said Easten Jenn, a freshman majoring in environmental science. “Kind of like reading chapters in a book, they have to go in a certain order, as opposed to Spotify where you can get one really cool chapter out of context.”
It may not be the most practical form of listening, but vinyl can reserve a place in music lovers’ hearts, for it is a physical sliver of an artist’s soul, preserved for the individual. While it is unclear whether or not the recent rise is simply a trend or a new tradition, it is evident that vinyl has made a comeback in music culture.
“Vinyl allows me to be able to appreciate the artistry without any bias towards certain sounds or narratives that a curated algorithm would’ve had me listen to,” James said. “It shapes my view of music because it allows me to live in the moments of the album, not just put on headphones and disassociate.”
