Are Vinyls Making a Comeback?

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Vinyls were an essential piece of technology from the 1950s to the 1980s. However, with the invention of modern-day digital music, vinyls quickly became obsolete and sales dropped dramatically. However, according to Camoin Associates, vinyl sales started increasing in 2007 and continued to rise every year up to 2023. By 2023, about 50 million units were sold, a massive increase from the one million in 2007. So a question emerges: Who is buying these records and why?

Laszlo Stein ’27 thinks that part of this resurgence is due to nostalgia and curiosity, many times from generations that did not grow up with vinyls. Stein also expressed that going to a record store “is like an event.” It’s “something you do after school, or with friends on the weekend, or a fun date… So it’s more than just listening to a song… It’s a place to go.” Buying vinyls is a social activity that is far more fun than playing a song instantly on your phone.

There are many explanations of why vinyls are coming back, but why would one choose to listen to vinyls over digital music? Stein said that buying vinyl compels him to listen to the whole album, which makes him appreciate the music more. With digital music, Stein may only “add one or two of [his] favorite songs to [his] playlist, and [he’ll] listen to the songs over and over… But when you have a physical thing, and put it on a turntable, you have to listen to every single song.” Stein explained that listening to vinyl also makes listening to music the main activity. When Stein puts on a vinyl, it’s about focusing on the music. However, with digital music Stein says “it’s always like, put on music, clean up my room, put on music, do some homework, put on music, make myself lunch.” This is very different from music being the main activity and appreciating it more.

For other students, the appeal of vinyls comes from a sense of ownership and connection. Priscilla Lee ’26 observed that vinyls act as collectibles, unlike digital music. Similarly, Edie Coye ’27 mentioned the importance of feeling like you fully own the music, rather than buying a subscription to a streaming service and essentially borrowing the music. Larger artists are beginning to catch on and sell vinyls of their new albums, which has led to the spike in consumer interest in vinyls after being off the market for some time.

But vinyls are not all positive; one of the largest cons to buying new vinyls now is the price. For Stein, “it doesn't make sense to spend $40” on one vinyl, noting that “it’s so overpriced.” This also makes it difficult to discover artists through vinyl because if you don’t end up liking the artist, you waste $40 instead of just a few dollars half a century ago, in the height of vinyl’s popularity. Coye said it’s just not accessible and noted how expensive it is to buy a record player if you want to play one of those $40 vinyls. Stein mentioned that while the record players are expensive, going to flea markets and buying vinyls themselves second-hand is more sustainable.

So the short answer is yes, vinyls are making a comeback, and for a variety of reasons. But when will this interest in vinyls fade? Well, Coye believes that everything comes in and out of style, including vinyls. Stein has a harsher perspective, saying that vinyls are “one hundred percent a trend. This is going to end in 10 years. Please quote me on that, if not less, and then people are going to be left with a bunch of useless vinyl [that are] going to go down to being 50 cents a piece.” So while vinyls are back for now, it may not be forever.