The Economist reported that vinyl outpaced streaming, with records growing 15.4 per cent, compared to streaming’s 10.4 per cent. They also have outsold CDs for the fourth year in a row.
The boom in vinyl popularity is likely due to superfans flocking to buy fan-favourite artists, like Taylor Swift’s latest albums.
In April, Swift smashed records in vinyl sales with the release of “The Tortured Poets Department,” selling 700,000 copies in just three days.
Last year, the megastar’s albums comprised 7 per cent of all vinyl sales, selling more than 3.4 million records in 2023 alone.
Former Spotify economist Will Page predicts that record labels will gross $1 billion by the end of 2024 in vinyl sales alone.
In a column for Billboard, Page wrote, “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 went on to explain that despite streaming services offering more music for less money, records are akin to “merchandise” to superfans.
The record revival comes amid Gen Z’s infatuation with vintage technology, embracing everything from flip phones and landlines, to digital and film cameras.
