Vinyl strikes a chord with young Japanese

VINYL’S popularity will likely further grow as Sony Corp plans to restart vinyl record production as early as March next year.

“When it comes to vinyl, picking a song can be a painstaking process. It feels really good to enjoy the music’s deep, rich sounds all the way to the end,” said Rei Goto, a 19-yearold company worker from Kaisei, Kanagawa prefecture, who was at the vinyl record section of Tower Records’s Shibuya store in Tokyo.

According to the Recording Industry Association of Japan, annual production of vinyl records peaked at roughly 200 million records in the latter half of the 1970s. CDs became the most popular medium for listening to music in the 1980s, followed by online streaming in the 2000s. As a result, production of vinyl records plunged to about 100,000 records in 2009.

Many thought vinyl records would completely disappear because of the sharp decline, but the situation has changed dramatically in recent years. Production of vinyl records grew to roughly 800,000 records in 2016, eight times its nadir in 2009.

The records’ attractive covers, which are larger than CDs and decorated with interesting designs and photos of artists, are thought to contribute to the popularity. Consumers seem to take greater joy in physically owning their favourite music rather than purchasing digital audio through streaming services.

Some also say that vinyl records have better sound quality than CDs.

“Demand [for vinyl] has risen among both older generations, who want to regain a real sense of listening to music, and younger consumers, who are surprised by the high quality of the records,” said Ryoji Menjo, chairman of the Japan Audio Society.

Pressured by the growth of online streaming services, vinyl record retailers see the revival of the retro product as a business opportunity. Lawson HMV Entertainment Inc has launched three vinyl record specialty stores in Tokyo since 2014. Sales of the records have grown roughly 30 percent each year. The Tower Records’s Shibuya store has expanded floor space for vinyl records every year.

Sales of record players have also grown. Panasonic Corp launched its Technics audio brand in May with orders currently outpacing production capacity.

Takeshi Shimizu of Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting LLC, who is well versed in the music industry, said, “Digital will continue to be the leading format, but demand for vinyl records will remain popular as a form of ‘music that can be owned’.”