For the Record: How Vinyl Got its Groove Back — to the Tune of a Billion Dollars: …A few weeks ago at the Music Biz conference, MusicWatch founder Russ Crupnick presented a new consumer research study on the topic, “Revelations About the Vinyl Revolution,” about where this growth is coming from and why – as well as how the business might expand. (The study was funded by the Music Business Association and the RIAA.) Based on more than 1,400 consumer surveys, including more than 900 vinyl buyers, the report segments the market of vinyl buyers according to how long they’ve been collecting (38% more than a decade, 30% between three and 10 years, and about a third less than two years) and how often and why they buy. Although we tend to think of vinyl buyers as a particular tribe, there are more of them than most people realize – 17.6 million in the U.S. That’s more than a third of the number of Americans who bought tracks as downloads at the peak of that market. And although 26% are “veteran and committed,” there are also consumers who focus more on packaging (26%) and artists (20%), as well as pop fans (12%) and “new occasionals” (15%).
What Nostalgia? Vinyl’s Biggest Boosts Are Coming From Pop Fans and Mass Merchants (Even if Indie Stores and Rock Still Rule): Much of the audience that is driving vinyl sales to new peaks consists of fans who are experiencing LPs as their first and only physical format. Luminate data shows Harry Styles, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo are selling the format as well as themselves. “…Rock still controls the vinyl universe,” concedes Peter Krien, senior music analyst at Luminate. But with big surges for pop and country of late — not to mention the recent development of Tyler, the Creator’s album returning to No. 1 based almost entirely on a vinyl release — “it was just nice to see some increased diversity from a genre perspective over the past year.” The preeminence of pop in the vinyl format isn’t about to end any time soon. Tuesday, it was announced that Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” had broken the record for vinyl sales in a single week — and more than that, it’d done that in just its first three days out, with LP sales of more than 146,000 just in the first weekend.
West Allis, WI | West Allis record store changes some business practices after being victim of alleged check fraud: Record Head in West Allis has changed some of the ways it operates its business after learning it was a victim of alleged check fraud earlier this year. The business doesn’t just sell records. It also buys a lot of merchandise from customers to re-sell. Anything from a $50 game system to a $10,000 guitar. “So, when an item is more expensive, rather than keeping that cash on hand, we issue them a check,” said Bill Sanders, Chief Operations Officer at the store on Greenfield Avenue. Sanders says Record Head has issued thousands of checks over the years and never had a problem until one day in February. “We were rectifying all of our books, and my accountant was like, ‘Hey can you explain some of these charges? They’re not typical. What’s going on?’ I was like, ‘Oh I have no idea what any of that is,'” Sanders recalled. According to court documents, there were “eight fraudulent transactions totaling $2,485.36.”
Everett, WA | Vinyl Hunters: Buy One Record, or all 10,000: While meandering through the Everett Flea Market recently, I stumbled upon Vinyl Hunters. If you hear some good jams emanating through the space, it’s likely coming from Paul Burr in the back left corner of the store where he hangs out with his large collection of vinyl records. Admittedly, I had mostly just wandered into the flea market in search of home goods. Yet I managed to wander out with three new records instead. I blame Paul; in the best way. …Paul’s got it all, he shared. “Blues. Jazz. Country. A lot of stuff from the 50s-90s. There’s at least 10,000 records here.” The average price point seemed to run around $15-20; which compared to new vinyl is very reasonable. Especially when you consider that these 50-year-old records can go up in value. Don’t be surprised to see certain records priced at $50 or $100+. Paul uses, “a 16-year-old book for the prices, and then I usually add a couple bucks to make a little money.”