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The Death of the Vinyl Revival

Interesting thread. my setup is modest,.my digital front end is probably better than my TT hardware, but I still prefer the sound of vinyl. I think it'll be around for a while yet as a medium

I did some rash spending after getting a TT again, I'm now trying to limit vinyl purchases to either new music I really like which I think will suit vinyl (like new UK Jazz) , or original pressings of old stuff IM interested in.
So it all ends up being period correct and a piece of history too

I don't see the appeal of a £25+ reissue to get a gimmicky coloured vinyl and possible an inferior pressing

My daughter bought me a new,.sealed Bob Marley compilation last week and the SQ is shocking. I checked all my connections before realising it was the record !
 
My partner's nephew was after some Elvis "vinyls" for his girlfriend (They're both in their early 20s) and came to me to find out where you can get them. This surprised me, but at least £14 for a couple of second hand Elvis records didn't break the bank.
 
The thing I find a bit disturbing about these mainstream media stories is the suggestion is younger buyers are focusing on old dead dad-rock or older music like Floyd, Fleetwood Mac or even Elvis (who I assumed was largely £1 to £5 bin by now). I have a strong feeling this isn’t the case and it is just really, really lazy journalism conflating boomers spending £300+ on Floyd or Beatles box sets and expensive audiophile jazz reissues whilst the young folk are mostly elsewhere buying new music on vinyl from Bandcamp to support living and currently active artists who of their generation. The boomer titles are so expensive they likely tip the market perception entirely. Especially given many limited Bandcamp issues are likely off-map statistically.
 
Tony L said:
The thing I find a bit disturbing about these mainstream media stories is the suggestion is younger buyers are focusing on old dead dad-rock or older music like Floyd, Fleetwood Mac or even Elvis (who I assumed was largely £1 to £5 bin by now). I have a strong feeling this isn’t the case and it is just really, really lazy journalism conflating boomers spending £300+ on Floyd or Beatles box sets and expensive audiophile jazz reissues whilst the young folk are mostly elsewhere buying new music on vinyl from Bandcamp to support living and currently active artists who of their generation. The boomer titles are so expensive they likely tip the market perception entirely. Especially given many limited Bandcamp issues are likely off-map statistically.
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Gen Zs love a bit vintage. There’s probably some truth in the reports, I still think the vast majority just use Spotify. My daughter has bought band t-shirts for albums she’s never heard.
 
Woodface said:
Gen Zs love a bit vintage. There’s probably some truth in the reports, I still think the vast majority just use Spotify. My daughter has bought band t-shirts for albums she’s never heard.
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I’m sure there is a degree of truth to that, e.g. you can buy Ramones t-shirts at Asda and I bet 85% of people who buy them couldn’t name a single Ramones song.

I still think young folk buy a lot of new vinyl. It would be very interesting to spend a few hours behind the counter at Rough Trade, Piccadilly, Norman etc and see exactly what sold to who. That would still obviously miss Bandcamp, and that is where the most interesting stuff tends to be these days IMHO.
 
paulfromcamden said:
…and Fleetwood Mac. Good Lord! They'll be buying Pink Floyd reissues next!
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Any recent list of top-selling records I’ve seen has The Dark Side of the Moon and (TikTok favourite) Rumours. For all ages, it’s the law. Always several Arctic Monkeys albums feature as well… not sure who’s buying all those??

Perhaps I’m an outlier, but other than occasionally getting things like Basic Channel represses, I only buy current releases. I should still have one of my first buys somewhere though, by ‘young females’ favourite, Joan Jett…


(Unlike ‘Eye of the Tiger’, I didn’t sit on that one.)
 
I know a few kids who have bought albums to get priority access to gig tickets. I think that is a bit naughty of the artist/label.

Different if they are promoting via local record stores. I know Royal Blood did this with their last album as a means of accessing tickets for the Concorde 2 in Brighton, a tiny venue compared to where they usually play.
 
Prices need to ease back. I have picked up some cheaper vinyls (I know!) recently though and these included postage:

Tears for Fears - Seeds of Love - £16.67
Olivia Rodrigo - Sour - £13.99
RAYE - My 21st Century Blues - £17.69 & signed!
 
Alex N said:
Any recent list of top-selling records I’ve seen has The Dark Side of the Moon and (TikTok favourite) Rumours. For all ages, it’s the law. Always several Arctic Monkeys albums feature as well… not sure who’s buying all those??
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My daughter is a music teacher. She says that all of the kids love the Arctic Monkeys.
 
I must confess surprise that young people are buying new vinyl because it really is a very ungreen material.

When you think about it, a record has 3 lives. The first life is the manufacturing one which is plain polluting.

The second life is when the record is being played and we all have records over 50 years of age, so this is the good stage as they are giving lots of people lots of pleasure over a long length of time. This must be the phase of a records life when we should be selling / buying or swapping them. Classical and Jazz music is timeless and does not date so can be played by different people over time.

The third stage is when it is dumped on landfill which is bad.

So surely the best option is to lovingly preserve and play the old records so as they will last forever type of thing and stop buying brand new ones that cause the new pollution.
 
Mr Pig said:
My daughter is a music teacher. She says that all of the kids love the Arctic Monkeys.
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What a great job. I found a list, and the Arctic Monkeys have four of last year’s top 40 best-selling records... I wonder how many are bought by the yutes.

Mick P said:
So surely the best option is to lovingly preserve and play the old records so as they will last forever type of thing and stop buying brand new ones that cause the new pollution.
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Another Melody Nelson reference from Beck at 1:30 there I’d not noticed before. Thanks, Mick.
 
Bullinachinashop said:
I don't see the appeal of a £25+ reissue to get a gimmicky coloured vinyl and possible an inferior pressing
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Others do, though.

I advised parents of a 13-year-old where to get a vinyl replay system two Christmases ago, and at age 15 now, her enthusiasm for the format shows no sign of abating. Apparently, amongst her school and social set, vinyl is "cool".

We got her a £25-ish album the year that the parents got her the system, another album last year, and another this Xmas.
 
Alex N said:
What a great job. I found a list, and they have four of last year’s top 40 best-selling records... I wonder how many are bought by the yutes.
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I’d be interested to see a list of the chart return retailers used. The charts were always hopelessly skewed to large mainstream retailers and I bet it is even more off-balance today now so much music is bought direct from the artist or indie record labels.

PS Not counting the dad-rock on that list (where I have original pressings where it appeals) the only one I have is the Wet Leg album, which I bought a limited signed edition with a bonus 7” via the band’s site (Discogs). I wonder whether that sale counted. I suspect not.
 
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