1. While record players and vinyl records might have been collecting dust since their heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, US music industry data shows that a rekindled love for vinyl is back and here to stay.
2. According to a 2022 year-end report by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the number of vinyl records sold in the US in 2022 overtook the number of CDs sold for the first time since 1987.
3. A total of 41 million records were sold in 2022, compared to 33 million CDs. The total value of records sold actually overtook CDs in 2020. But vinyl is usually more expensive than CDs, and 2022 was the first time the number of physical records sold was again greater than the number of CDs.
(1)Do you own a record player? If so, how often do you use it? If not, would you consider getting one?
(2)When was the last time you bought a physical copy of an album?
4. The RIAA report also showed that although digital streaming is now the number one way for audiences to listen to music, the next most popular method is vinyl — even more popular than digital downloads.
5. With sales increasing since 2006, $1.2 billion in vinyl records were sold in 2022 — an increase of 17% from the year before. Meanwhile, CD sales have been decreasing from a high of $13.2 billion in 2000 to just $483 million in 2022.
6. Digital streaming was worth $13.3 billion in 2022. But even records are adapting to modern technology, with new record players from companies like Audio-Technica, Sony and Crosley offering Bluetooth features.
(1)What music streaming services do you use? When did you start using them?
(2)Do you tend to listen to old or new music more often?
7. And while the central technology may be old, the music isn’t. Entertainment data company Luminate found that 2022’s top-selling vinyl record was Taylor Swift’s new album Midnights. With 945,000 copies sold, it was the largest total for any vinyl album since Luminate started counting in 1991.
8. Next was Harry Styles’ Harry’s House, which sold 480,000 copies on vinyl. Digital music streaming companies such as Spotify and Apple Music have dominated music sales since 2016 with subscription services and immediate access to new music. But the return of vinyl may prove that there’s room for both new and old in the modern music industry.
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