Vinyl are at a 25-year high purchasing rate, but why are people still buying them? 

CDs have seen a drop of 9.6 million fewer purchases year-on-year since 2008 meaning only 32 million were sold in 2018, almost a 100 million decline since 2008.

Streaming has become the new trend with music giants such as Spotify and Apple Music dominating the industry. Just last year, 91 billion songs were played with around 1,300 songs per person in the UK accounting for nearly two thirds of all music consumption.

cds
Abandoned CDs (Credit: Flickr)

But vinyl sales have seen a growth of 1.6 per cent since last year, selling over 4.2 million albums. So why are more people buying them?

Jon Tolley, Banquet Records owner, said in an interview with the BBC: “I don’t buy it that physical music is necessarily competing with streams”. He continues, “we all access music and film on the internet, and that’s fine and healthy and valid, but you wouldn’t look at the Mona Lisa on your phone and think it’s the same thing as going to see it in a gallery”.

Tolley explains, “the reason vinyl sales are at a 25-year high is because people are rejecting this part of modern society where everything is immediate and nothing means anything”.


Feature image: @kobuagency via unsplash