The Return of Vinyl Records

Vinyl records have had a massive spike in sales and overall popularity in the past 30 years since their arrival in the 1930’s. Music platforms, like Apple Music and Spotify have been the main source of music nowadays, but that wasn't always the case. From the 1930’s to the 1970’s, there were vinyl records spinning all day because that was the main source of music. In the early ’80s though, cassettes and tapes were invented, which slightly lowered the popularity of vinyl. People used cassettes as a portable music source, which they would put into their cars or plug in earbuds to listen. Then, in the later ’80s, CDs were invented. This created a big drop in vinyl popularity and sales. CDs were cheaper, easier to maintain, smaller, and more modern at the time. Vinyl became irrelevant for a while, until it gained back its popularity in the late 90s. 

The return of vinyl has obviously affected stores like record stores, but its also affected stores like Urban Outfitters and Target. The rise of vinyl gave stores like Urban Outfitters the opportunity to produce exclusive vinyl at their stores. This means that albums would be pressed a certain way exclusively at that store. At Urban Outfitters, there have been some of the rarest vinyl that currently sells for hundreds if not thousands of dollars. At Target, there have been many exclusive pieces of mainstream (popular) vinyl. Target has been known to usually have a common color of red, as their logo is red.

When artists announce their new music, they usually release merchandise as well as different physical copies of the albums. These physical copies include things like vinyl, CDs, and sometimes cassette tapes. The CDs tend to stay in stock, but vinyl records are the first to sell out. Artists also release multiple variants of these records with fun colors or patterns. For example, Taylor Swift released 9 different variants (colors) of her 2020 album, “Folklore.” All of these variants sold out quickly and are now being re-sold for much more than face value.

Vinyl has always been a standard black color. Colored vinyl was created not too long after normal black vinyl, but they were not as colorful and creative as they are now. Examples of vinyl variants include smoky records, splatter records, picture discs, and glow in the dark vinyl. 

The demand for vinyl records is insane. People will go feral over a plastic (sometimes colored) disc that spins and plays music. The prices have started to spike since the increase in the popularity of vinyl. Back in the ’80s, vinyl used to cost about $7 to $8 without inflation (with inflation, it was about $22). Currently, vinyl is costing about $25 minimum (for slightly bigger artists) and can sometimes cost, at face value, $45 to $50 for gatefolds where the jacket of the vinyl opens up to a big picture or for high-quality vinyl. 

“Record Store Day” is the one day of the year that vinyl collectors wait so long for. It is a day where all across the country, exclusive albums are pressed on all types of vinyl and are sold at independent record stores. The fun thing about this is that the vinyl is usually only available for one day and is limited to only a few thousand copies. A few months prior to the actual day, the list of exclusive records is announced for buyers to see so they can prepare for what they want to buy. 

Vinyl can be so rare that people resell records for tremendous amounts. For some reason, vinyl records hold so much rarity and value. A plastic disc that plays music can resell from any range between $80 to $1,000! Sometimes these resell listings can be for colored pressings of the album, standard black pressings but there was only a limited quantity, signed copies, record store day pressings, or alternate covers. For example, Taylor Swift has many rare pieces of vinyl that sell in the hundreds. Variants like “Reputation” on orange vinyl, “1989” on pink and clear mixed vinyl, and her debut album “Taylor Swift” on Record Store Day exclusive blue vinyl are some of Swift's rare vinyl that gets sold for high hundreds or even over a thousand dollars.

Overall, vinyl has made its comeback and will continue to be prevalent throughout the current generation. In the world today, there are many ways people can stream music online, but vinyl has made its return as a source to stream music physically and traditionally.

By Marco Schittone