THE RECORD SPINS AGAIN

Since the beginning of this pandemic we’ve all come to know too well, people all over the world have been searching for ways to keep themselves entertained. As the search continues, vinyl records have been a nostalgic go-to, with sales surpassing CD sales for the first time since the 1980s.

Vinyl has made its long-awaited comeback and people are excited to listen to physical copies of music again. As reported by popular music database & marketplace, Discogs, “more than 5,800,000 records were sold on the platform between January and June 2020 – a significant chunk of the 7,657,626 total pieces of physical music, which also includes including tapes and CDs, picked up by collectors browsing the site.”

Music is a beautiful distraction from the chaos of the outside world and it is evident that people have been consuming music at an unprecedented rate with the pandemic having kept more and more people in their homes than ever before. It should come as no surprise that music sales have skyrocketed, in terms of both streaming records and physical sales within the past year as the Recording Industry Association of America released a report showing that “the average number of paid subscriptions to music-streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music was up 24% compared to the first-half average for 2019.”

As years have progressed music with the rise and fall of CDs and the birth of digital streaming platforms, the record spins yet again with more and more people wanting to hear that notorious vinyl sound. The nostalgia factor, current global circumstances, and a little extra change in people’s pockets-thank you stimulus check-have all contributed to the recent boom of record sales and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.