US | Vinyl Sales Surpassed $1 Billion In 2025: Report. For the first time this century, vinyl music sales eclipsed $1 billion in a calendar year. Vinyl purchases in 2025 reached $1.04 billion in the U.S., according to a report published Monday by the Recording Industry Association of America. Once considered an endangered format, vinyl sales grew for the 19th consecutive year in 2025, per a news release from the non-profit organization tasked with tracking music sales. Last year, consumers purchased an estimated 48.5 million new vinyl units, which largely includes traditional LP and EP releases. By comparison, CDs sold 29.5 million units, according to the report. The report does not include sales of pre-owned vinyl.
Los Angeles, CA | ArtNight Closeup: Pasadena Artist Opens a Record Store Inside a Gallery: Dave Muller’s first nonprofit solo show in Los Angeles in over two decades fills ArtCenter’s Williamson Gallery with vinyl, watercolors, and 20 years of music obsession. …The exhibition, “Dave Muller: Proto Typical,” gets a public sneak peek Friday night during ArtNight Pasadena, the citywide arts event produced by the City of Pasadena’s Cultural Affairs Division, before its formal opening reception Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. An artist-led walk-through precedes the reception from 4 to 5 p.m. The show runs through August 8. Admission is free. At the center of the exhibition is Record Pavilion 2.0, a fully operational record store stocked with vinyl from Muller’s personal collection. Visitors can browse and buy records throughout the show’s run. Muller routinely restocks the inventory during his exhibitions, according to gallery records from previous installations.
Valetta, MT | The Story Of… D’Amato Records in Valetta, Malta: D’Amato Records is the oldest record shop in the world. It was founded in 1885 by Giovanni D’Amato in Valetta, Malta. They are currently in the 5th generation. The store has tens of thousands of records, vinyls, cds and cassettes. The music genres varies from Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, Jazz, K-pop and everything in between. Famous visitors over the years are musicians, actors, politicians and football players. When visiting Malta, it is a must to step inside the store. What you see is authentic and feels like stepping into a time machine. Beyond being historic, they strive to be one of the best stocked record shops in the world. What you see today is not a reconstruction or a nostalgic recreation, it is the real thing.
Kuala Lumpur, MY | There’s A New Vinyl Café In Chow Kit Where You Can Sit, Sip & Listen To Music Records: No distractions, just records, headphones, and a bit of peace. In a city full of busy cafés and background playlists, a new spot in Kuala Lumpur is inviting people to slow down and really enjoy the music. Located in Chow Kit, Listen HiFi Cafe is a vinyl listening café where guests can browse through records and book dedicated listening sessions with turntables and headphones, all while sipping on coffee and other drinks. Located on Level 3 at Jalan Kamunting, the space features 13 vinyl listening stations, each equipped with closed-back over-ear headphones and an Audio-Technica turntable. The collection covers a wide range of genres, from indie, R&B, hip hop, pop, alternative, and shoegaze to instrumental and orchestral recordings like the Studio Ghibli Philharmonic and Past Lives OST.
NJ | VHS tapes are now worth big bucks. These N.J. shops are cashing in on the retro rewind. …in today’s world of instant-gratification streaming services and the endless scroll, some film fanatics are yearning for a simpler time and a dose of nostalgia. Enter Reddit communities and Facebook groups where VHS collectors swap stories and share photos of their collections and recent finds. Across New Jersey, vintage shops and even a vegan cafe have gone a step further, cashing in on cottage VHS businesses thanks to this renewed interest. “Our ‘collectors’ are also consumers, as in they actually watch their physical media. I don’t have too many people buying from us with no intention of enjoying the tapes or even trying to flip them for a profit,” Joe Smith, manager of Station 1 Books and Records in Pompton Lakes, told NJ.com.
Los Angeles, CA | CultureVinylCon! Announces 2026 DJ and Partnership Lineup: VinylCon! makes its long-awaited return to the West Coast with a two-day celebration of vinyl culture at the California Market Center (CMC). VinylCon! makes its long-awaited return to the West Coast with a two-day celebration of vinyl culture at the California Market Center (CMC) in Downtown Los Angeles on March 21st and 22nd. The event, hailed as “the largest record fair in California that anyone can remember,” has announced its DJ lineup curated by renowned DJ and collector Skeme Richards, which includes headlining sets by internationally acclaimed DJs The Gaslamp Killer and DJ Nu-Mark. Discogs will participate in VinylCon! as an official partner in the event with activations designed to support both collectors and vendors. On the convention floor, Discogs will host a tech-forward booth offering product demos, exclusive merch giveaways, and a raffle, alongside special interviews with legendary music host Matt Pinfield.
Dallas, TX | Seven Is the Magic Number for DJ Tone Hunts: Much to our delight, the longtime Dallas DJ would rather soundtrack a night on the dance floor with 7-inch vinyl. There’s something special about spinning real vinyl in a sea of DJs using laptops and thumb drives. People notice. They’ll stop and stare, take pictures and video, and they’ll appreciate the skill required to keep the beat going without the aid of a sync button. Antonio Huntington, better known in the club world as Tone Hunts, knows this well. …Despite the added skill level needed to keep a 7-inch party going (the songs are usually shorter with truncated intros and breaks, and there’s less surface area to control for cueing and scratching while the shallow, tight grooves accentuate any scratches or skips), Huntington was attracted to the unique nature of the format.
Manchester, UK | ‘DJing has become an in-joke in the trans community—but becoming one saved me.’ Kim Lana’s house is full of hundreds and hundreds of vinyl records. Most, she hasn’t got round to listening to yet, and and also has no idea what’s on them. The DJ and producer, who has been hailed as a ‘Northern icon of queer nightlife,’ is a rapidly-rising name on the house music scene, thanks to her accomplished sets on the NTS music radio platform, which was once named Best Online Radio Station in the World at the official International Radio Awards Festival. She’s also played across the country, and locally at the likes of HOMOBLOC, Manchester Pride and Manchester International Festival. “It’s good to get the recognition as I sometimes feel like I may usually end up playing music that’s a little different to whatever everybody else is doing or what is deemed to be fashionable at the moment,” Kim tells the Manchester Evening News.
Monterey, CA | Eclectic DJs are shaping a musical movement in Monterey County for the next generation. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the music industry was rocked by the invention of peer-to-peer music file sharing platforms such as Napster, Kazaa and Limewire. Almost overnight, record labels lost their means of making money off of the artists that produced albums, leaving consumers with a paradox of how to ethically support the artists that they loved. Technology continues to grow in the music scene—now exacerbated with artificial intelligence through streaming services that have embraced it—but purist forms of discovering music endure, including in the form of DJs, who dissent against AI-generated elements in music. Even for the growing number of local DJs who rely on digital (not vinyl) for their collections, they are responding to the presence of technology in music with something different than an algorithm: their own taste.
Follow The Vinyl District on Facebook HERE, Instagram HERE, Threads HERE, Bluesky HERE, and X/Twitter HERE.
