VINYL sales outstrip downloads

[Smudger]

For the first time in 12 years Vinyl sales are more than downloads  Great news !

 

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/06/tables-turned-as-vinyl-records-outsell-digital-in-uk-for-first-time

[El Corol]

It is good news but that guy they interviewed from Rough Trade isn't helping things with his woeful attitude towards his customers.

[paultp]

In value, not quantity

 

[Stateside]

I liked this bit in the article

" But you also still have the 65-year-old man who smells of weed who will always come into a record shop, stand around and then ask for something you haven’t got, and then leave. So it hasn’t changed completely.”

Kev

[Bbrich]

Good to see the person in the picture is eyeing up a tamla motown album!

[jam66]

I noticed this as I was reading about a piece of kit called the 'Sugar Cube' which purports to take the pops and clicks out of vinyl, just a heads up in case any are interested. The search term Sugar cube hi-fi will get you to a few reviews. Couldn't help but thinking whilst I read it that it had been tried before??

[Jnixon]

The saddest thing about this upsurge in vinyl sales is it validates people like Forbes. How dare people visit London and buy a Clash lp with London in the title.

Glad to see workers in record shops have not lost the trademark grandiose air of erronious self appointed superiority. Its the only reason I go to shops like RT these days. 

 

 

[Jnixon]

1 hour ago, jam66 said:

I noticed this as I was reading about a piece of kit called the 'Sugar Cube' which purports to take the pops and clicks out of vinyl, just a heads up in case any are interested. The search term Sugar cube hi-fi will get you to a few reviews. Couldn't help but thinking whilst I read it that it had been tried before??

Its possible to take a scratchy youtube vid tune and master out the pops and clicks - this possibility outdates you tube but to have it in one box for the hi fi buff is very neat.  

[Smudger]

also see these

https://www.whathifi.com/news/hd-vinyl-promises-better-sound-and-cheaper-production

https://www.whathifi.com/news/symcon-aims-to-boost-vinyl-sound-quality-through-new-manufacturing-process

Edited December 11, 2016 by smudger

[Cover-up]

It's a bit of a red herring, though, comparing vinyl sales with downloads. Downloads are dying out as more and more people stream music rather than download. And the figures quoted are for sales not volume - with albums retailing at about £25 a pop, there could still be five times as many people downloading tracks as buying vinyl. It's not comparing like with like. You can prove anything with statistics... 

[Cunnie]

27 minutes ago, cover-up said:

It's a bit of a red herring, though, comparing vinyl sales with downloads. Downloads are dying out as more and more people stream music rather than download. And the figures quoted are for sales not volume - with albums retailing at about £25 a pop, there could still be five times as many people downloading tracks as buying vinyl. It's not comparing like with like. You can prove anything with statistics... 

Also it's Christmas shopping time & millions of 40 & 50 something Wives are buying £69.99 turntables for their Husbands from HMV and are chucking in a Pink Floyd & a Bowie album to make a change from the usual socks & slippers.
Suppose they'll keep him quiet in his man-cave until the end of January...

[Geeselad]

I've taught in Buxton for the last 15 years, last years must have Xmas pressie, for my year 11 class of coolish lower middle class kids, were record decks. they were buying stuff like ELO, The Beatles, Queen, but its just great them having the same tactile experience of viny. Downloads are the fast food experience of music, vinyl is like fine dining for you ears

[Guest randy]

Vinyl sales in the UK are far higher than the above figures would suggest which are retail only, they do not include direct sales from labels Daptone and Colemine etc and imported records sold on Discogs and ebay etc. 

[ajb]

11 hours ago, Cunnie said:

Also it's Christmas shopping time & millions of 40 & 50 something Wives are buying £69.99 turntables for their Husbands from HMV and are chucking in a Pink Floyd & a Bowie album to make a change from the usual socks & slippers.
Suppose they'll keep him quiet in his man-cave until the end of January...

only if they have head phones, otherwise it could be quiet loud 

[Mike]

on download sales heard someone saying downloads are actually droping due to online streaming services growth

 

I don't think any of my lot pays for downloads any more - all pay for spotify, deezer etc

 

Edited December 12, 2016 by mike
reworded

[Shinehead]

Interesting to see the quote that retailers are hiking prices for vinyl , when CDs became the norm the prices of limited runs of vinyl rose understandably.

Just sheer greed now , just a fad though for many I would guess.

 

 

[Guest randy]

One well know DJ sold up his record collection in the early 70’s because he didn't think this soul fad thing would last

[Shinehead]

28 minutes ago, randy said:

One well know DJ sold up his record collection in the early 70’s because he didn't think this soul fad thing would last

Not much of a dj or a soul music lover.

[Peter99]

1 hour ago, randy said:

One well know DJ sold up his record collection in the early 70’s because he didn't think this soul fad thing would last

How many dj's and collectors haven't sold their collections - for many differing reasons, some multiple times. 

[Guest Spain pete]

This buying vinyl fad won't last long trust me l know  lol

[Frankie Crocker]

On 12/12/2016 at 16:13, Spain pete said:

This buying vinyl fad won't last long trust me l know  lol

Never trust a man who says 'trust me'... The current fad is set to grow and grow. It could breath new life into the turntable industry and hi-fi separates. In due course, seekers of good music may stumble across the soul scene which could result in more record collectors and long-term followers.

[Smudger]

Vinyl sales up over 50 %

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38487837

[Vinylchaser1]

On 12/12/2016 at 10:46, shinehead said:

 

Interesting to see the quote that retailers are hiking prices for vinyl

 

I can see the price of new vinyl starting to come down this year as new buyers realize that you can often get the original copy much cheaper

[Chalky]

On 12/12/2016 at 09:30, mike said:

on download sales heard someone saying downloads are actually droping due to online streaming services growth

 

I don't think any of my lot pays for downloads any more - all pay for spotify, deezer etc

 

Spotify is free but has an advert every few plays, bearable.  I have amazon prime and I get unlimited streaming in the package.

[Chalky]

12 hours ago, smudger said:

Vinyl sales up over 50 %

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38487837

Interesting piece from the article.....

According to the BPI, there were approximately 45 billion audio streams in 2016 - the equivalent of the UK's 27 million households each listening to 1,500 songs over the course of the year.

In December, more than a billion streams were served in a single week for the first time. To put that in context, the UK is now streaming more songs in a week than it did in a month just three years ago.

The above doesn't include youtube and the like.

[Jnixon]

21 hours ago, vinylchaser1 said:

I can see the price of new vinyl starting to come down this year as new buyers realize that you can often get the original copy much cheaper

Its mad but people who buy these items are not collectors and only a few will ever see it through to being a fully clued up buyer. 

[Jnixon]

21 hours ago, vinylchaser1 said:

I can see the price of new vinyl starting to come down this year as new buyers realize that you can often get the original copy much cheaper

Its mad but people who buy these items are not collectors and only a few will ever see it through to being a fully clued up buyer. 

[JIMMY SOUL]

The thing is, “sales of vinyl” might have increased, but I imagine this is largely due to the sales figures from major retailers, and supermarkets selling reissue LPs of popular classics, as opposed to people buying rare obscure 45s from fellow collectors.

There’s a certain advert that irritates me, where a young lad says “it always sounds so much better on vinyl” or something similar, which is quite frankly utter bollocks. When I first got my Adam A7X monitor speakers I stuck on an old mono recording 45 soul record, and wasn’t in the slightest bit surprised to find it sounded exactly the same as it always had done through my monitor headphones etc. and I wasn’t in the slightest bit impressed… it was certainly no revelation… I didn’t get that “wow I have never heard it sound like this before” experience.

Now, compare that to the experience of listening to a contemporary CD (for what it’s worth, a promo disc of German minimal techno I had lying about at the time) and the projection of twinkling bells in the mid-range – the experience was almost like hearing music in 3D – it was indescribable, and it’s undisputable that digital music is far more capable, particularly raw files, due to the dynamic range etc. but enough of that!!!

Fact of the matter is that we don’t really buy those discs for that reason alone, and great that “vinyl” is on the rise etc. but I can’t help feeling that for us soul collectors who buy contemporary/ previously unreleased material from the great independent labels that are about, this surge in popularity just means longer waiting times for material being manufactured and getting into our record collections.

Edited January 4, 2017 by JIMMY SOUL
better choice of word

[JIMMY SOUL]

Interesting article:

https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/29-does-vinyl-really-sound-better/

Interesting notes re modern reissues being "remastered" from CD.... just goes to show, and never has buying original issues been more important - if people were fully clued up about this.

[JIMMY SOUL]

And for the record, I am not a advocate or promoter of digital lol I am a vinyl fiend.... just to clear up any doubt... this recent vinyl craze just kind of pisses me off when people are being mugged off by the big record labels.

[JIMMY SOUL]

And for the record, I am not a advocate or promoter of digital lol I am a vinyl fiend.... just to clear up any doubt... this recent vinyl craze just kind of pisses me off when people are being mugged off by the big record labels.

[Vinylchaser1]

The thing is when calculating vinyl verses digital sales,if used vinyl sales were included it would blow digital out the water !!