According to The Economist, vinyl is having a huge resurgence, growing faster than streaming with a rate of 15.4%, compared to streaming’s 10.4%.
Even more impressively, vinyl has outsold CDs for the fourth consecutive year.
What’s driving this vinyl resurgence? The answer is devoted music lovers, who are snapping up records from their favorite artists, with Taylor Swift leading the charge.
In April, Taylor smashed records with her album The Tortured Poets Department, selling a staggering 700,000 vinyl copies in just three days.
And her dominance doesn’t end there with her albums accounting for an astonishing 7% of all vinyl sales in 2023, with over 3.4 million records sold that year alone.
The vinyl boom is proof that, even in a digital age, fans still value the tangible connection and nostalgia that only physical records can provide.
But vinyl sales in 2024 aren’t just about Taylor Swift!
Classic icons like Oasis, Green Day, and Bob Marley are making a triumphant return, with their albums Definitely Maybe, Saviors, and Legend securing spots on The Official’s best-selling vinyl list of the year so far.
Meanwhile, contemporary artists are also dominating the charts.
Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft, Sabrina Carpenter’s Short and Sweet, and to the surprise of absolutely no one Charli XCX’s Brat have all captured the spotlight.
Seems like the message is clear. Vinyl transcends generations and genres and is truly for everyone!
Former Spotify economist Will Page has predicted that vinyl sales will rake in a mind blowing $1 billion for record labels by the end of 2024.
In a Billboard column, Page noted, “Like the boy who cried wolf, we’ve been told again and again that the resurgence in vinyl is a blip, not a trend. Yet for 18 straight years, it has continued to surpass expectations.”
Page also explained that while streaming services offer more music for less money, vinyl records have become like merchandise and collections for fans, offering a more meaningful way to connect with their favourite artists.
It’s not just music where the younger generations are embracing the past and bringing back ‘retro’.
Gen Z are embracing all things vintage, from flip phones and landlines to digital and film cameras.
It’s like 1993 all over again!
