The music industry has become predominantly digital with platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. However, artists continue to sell vinyl records and CDs despite them leaving many to question how these physical forms of records still hold value to people in the music industry and the fans.
Here are a few reasons why vinyl continues to sell and hold value to the industry.
Potential for further profit
Apple Music currently pays roughly $0.01 per stream, while Spotify pays around $0.005. Creating digital music platforms has resulted in profit loss for artists compared to sales of physical copies of their music.
Albums and vinyl come in all different types and styles, but the average cost for a 2-LP vinyl is around $30 to $40, around $3 a song on a standard 12-track album.
Consumers who purchase physical forms of music pay for multiple streams at once when compared to digital platforms, and likely the audience purchasing physical forms of music also listens to it on another digital platform.
It’s trendy
Collecting vinyl records is a viral trend with multiple communities across social media platforms. The vinyl hashtag on TikTok has over 1.8 million videos of content creators sharing their collections, record-collecting hacks and different vinyl setups.
Some collectors aim to collect multiple versions of the same album depending on the available colors and variants, alternative covers and bonus tracks exclusive to vinyl.
Creators on TikTok, who show their impressive collections of multiple rare pressings, can gather many views from other people online, sparking higher demand for vinyl records from media influence.
Exclusive listening
Vinyl is a way for super-fans to listen to music from an artist before it hits streaming platforms. Artists like Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift have released deluxe songs exclusively on vinyl and CD, rallying eager fans to purchase their physical albums and hear new songs before the public.
Artists releasing vinyl records hinting at further deluxe editions create further promotion and excitement from fans and cause a song to become more viral because of public demand for its release on streaming platforms.
Olivia Rodrigo's song “obsessed” became popular when she released it on select records for her sophomore album “GUTS.” She did not officially release the song until March 22, nearly seven months after the original release of “GUTS”.
Since fans were already familiar with the song and advocated for its release, “Obsessed” debuted at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the music video has collected over 20 million views.
Advanced listening experience
Depending on the amount of money a collector spends and what kind of turntable they own, the vinyl sound quality can be enhanced compared to digital streaming.
By taking care of a vinyl collection and investing in quality equipment, listeners can enhance the listening experience for their favorite albums.
Supports independent music stores
Record Store Day is a popular event amongst vinyl collectors and takes place twice a year, once in April and on Black Friday. Select independent record stores have multiple exclusive vinyls from mainstream artists in the pursuit of keeping independent record shops alive.
Artists such as Taylor Swift, Pearl Jam, Brandi Carlile and Paramore have been ambassadors for Record Store Day releasing exclusive pressings of their past and present music hits.
Crowds of record collectors line up outside record shops on Record Store Day to hopefully add the limited edition pieces to their collection.
