by Kevin Coupe
On National Public Radio (NPR), Marketplace had a story illustrating the fact that sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same…
Vinyl records, the story says, "have experienced a sales boom in the last seven years — going from 1 million to 6 million sales in 2013. This year, vinyl is likely to surpass last year’s total.
"Of course, vinyl sales are still dwarfed by digital downloads. Nielsen SoundScan, which measures point-of-sale of recorded music product, says there were almost 50 billion video and audio streaming downloads in 2013. But vinyl’s resurgence has been dramatic enough in an industry of dwindling sales that record companies have begun to pay attention and, for the first time since the invention of the CD, to increase the number of titles they release on vinyl."
The reason? In general, it seems to be an appreciation of the superior sound that vinyl records offer: "Even outside of the music industry, there is now a jumping on board of the vinyl bandwagon. Urban Outfitters is now one of the nation’s largest vinyl record stores. Even the supermarket company Whole Foods has begun carrying vinyl records is certain markets."
Which just goes to show … even though technology can create massive change within an industry, there remains room for a quality, differentiated experience.
It's an Eye-Opener.
On National Public Radio (NPR), Marketplace had a story illustrating the fact that sometimes, the more things change, the more they stay the same…
Vinyl records, the story says, "have experienced a sales boom in the last seven years — going from 1 million to 6 million sales in 2013. This year, vinyl is likely to surpass last year’s total.
"Of course, vinyl sales are still dwarfed by digital downloads. Nielsen SoundScan, which measures point-of-sale of recorded music product, says there were almost 50 billion video and audio streaming downloads in 2013. But vinyl’s resurgence has been dramatic enough in an industry of dwindling sales that record companies have begun to pay attention and, for the first time since the invention of the CD, to increase the number of titles they release on vinyl."
The reason? In general, it seems to be an appreciation of the superior sound that vinyl records offer: "Even outside of the music industry, there is now a jumping on board of the vinyl bandwagon. Urban Outfitters is now one of the nation’s largest vinyl record stores. Even the supermarket company Whole Foods has begun carrying vinyl records is certain markets."
Which just goes to show … even though technology can create massive change within an industry, there remains room for a quality, differentiated experience.
It's an Eye-Opener.
- KC's View:
