Noah Cooper
Although vinyl record sales have been steadily rising in the early 00’s, and vinyl records saw a comeback in the recent years, nobody expected that it would become the physical medium of choice for music in 2020, which we are sure will continue in the year 2021.
Last year, 27.5 million vinyl records were sold in America, a sudden and unexpected rise of 46 percent compared to in 2019 and more than 30-fold that in 2006 when vinyl resurgence started. Vinyl sales in the UK last year are also the highest in nearly 30 years.
So yeah, it is not yet definitive that vinyl records will actually continue to rise in 2021 because it’s still too early to tell but based on the trends, we can bet all our grandpa’s vinyl collection that it will continue to soar. It has already surpassed CD sales in 2020 so we are almost 100% sure it will continue to stay in its place or even rise some more, cementing its place once again in the music industry.
Why is vinyl suddenly so hot these days? Let’s try to break it down:
#1. Musicians seem to be competing on who gets to release the coolest vinyl records.
If you check music groups on social media or Instagram and blog articles on custom vinyl record pressing online, you can find some of the best custom vinyl records and oh boy, they really can make any vinyl-lover drool. There are so many good-looking, collection-worthy vinyl records in all shapes and sizes!
Even the ones who don’t know a thing about vinyl would want to buy one because of how pretty these vinyl records look. There are those clear vinyl records with glitter, leaves, yarns, and even ashes.
There are those vinyl records with elaborate vinyl record packaging, the type you’d never want to gather dust. Since Spotify and live streaming can’t be smelt or tasted or touched, musicians seem to make the extra effort on vinyl records. Go ahead try just a quick search on vinyl records today and you’d understand why people are buying them.
# 2. The pandemic made us all turn to vinyl.
Concerts and gigs have stopped indefinitely, we’re all tired of looking at our screens all day long. We’re tired of anything from the internet. So what’s a good break from all of this? The warm and soothing sound of vinyl being played in the living room. People also have more money to spare and anything that gives their daily lives a bit of excitement is something they’re willing to spend on. Since concerts are out of the picture, the next best thing is a really fancy limited edition vinyl record of their favorite artists.
#3. We can brag about our latest vinyl stash on social media.
Gone are the days we shared Youtube music videos on Facebook because everyone has moved to Instagram or Tiktok. You know what’s cool to share? A badass vinyl record. You know what isn’t? Everything else but especially a Spotify screenshot. These days when we can’t brag about our trips or concerts, when there are no groupfies and trips to the museum, the best way to show that we still got a bit of culture left in our blood is by these vinyl records. This is more or less the same as hard copy books but waaaay cooler.
To say it’s making a comeback is already old news. It’s already happened: Vinyl has made a comeback and we are almost 100% sure it will happen again this year. If vinyl will indeed sell more than in 2020, we can bet that many musicians will jump on the bandwagon and release 12-inch vinyl records or even be brave enough to release 7-inch picture discs, which will make people buy some more. This is one thing to look forward to in music this 2021. We’re too excited for this to happen. Are you?
