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Hello, everyone! Great to see you all here again. I’m very happy to be back. Today we have a new writer for the headline article, Andrew Wilson! He loves vinyl just as much as the rest of us, so rest assured we have a great read for you today. You can check out his stuff here if you want more of him.

- Simon Honeyville

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Asking the obvious question, “Why is the format still thriving in 2023?”

The vinyl revival is often said to have struck the general public somewhere around 2007^[1] just following the official launch of Pandora September of 2005^[2] and Spotify’s founding in 2006^[3].

And while both streaming services have turned into behemoth entities that beam music in the ears of millions of users globally, vinyl has been steadily riding alongside, seeing consistent growth rates from that 2007 re-adoption point to now.

Yet when the revival of the medium is talked about, it seems the discourse just can’t help but slide into nerd-level pontification about fidelity (don’t worry, you’re amongst friends here), but I don’t buy it looking at the dates.

I’m of the opinion that there is no coincidence between the rise of digital streaming services and vinyl’s new era of adoption.

Vinyl records serve both the listening public and the music artists in this 21st century terrain of digital output.

The demand from the consumers comes as a reaction to ephemeral nature of digital files. The ability to hold something in your hands means quite a lot nowadays – a connection with the artist and sound that extends beyond a quick listen. The format easily outshines the delicacy of cds^[4] and tapes^[5] , and the same internet technology that allowed for these streaming platforms to boom has also given a platform for artists to offer small, on-demand record runs; thus, creating a viable option for artists to supply their fans with something really special. Jackets and sleeves become works of art in and of themselves.

We can talk economics with numbers, of course the artists are making money from these record sales, but we should also look at the practical narrative that allowed for this point to be reached.

Vinyl may be the perfect medium for collectors in our modern age, and maybe it’s a tough pill to swallow for some of those fidelity nerds, but I think next time you put on your newest limited press release, you may want to thank the streaming services…

At least begrudgingly.

180g Meme

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