Vinyl is back and breaking records
LPs are a massive hit with the download generation
IT was as dead as a dodo – and more extinct than a herd of dinosaurs.
But in a remarkable turnaround, the humble record player is now this year’s must-buy Christmas present for trendy teenagers.
Yes, that’s right, the gramophone, of all things, is back from the dead and so in fashion with the download generation that if you want one you’d better move fast.
And that means old- fashioned vinyl records – the ones you may well have given to the junk shop when CDs exploded in the 1980s – are now hip.
Vinyl sales topped digital sales last week for the first time since the download-ding era began.
Records worth £ 2.4 million were shifted, compared with £ 2.1 million made from digital music purchases, last week.
The no tableshi ftt offers proof that record shopping is now firmly back in the mainstream. Modern vinyl albums generally cost around £ 15 to £ 20, while special editions can fetch hundreds. Although modern artists sell well, they’re outpaced by sales of retro artists such as Queen, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
In the current vinyl chart, Wuthering Heights singer Kate Bush leads the way and there are appearances in the top 20 for The Beatles, Nirvana and The Stone Roses.
According to Amazon, the most popular turntables this Christmas are those made by ION, Audio Technica and 1byone. The ION Audio Max LP with built-in speakers, at £79.99, is currently the most popular model online.
Many different types are available for less than £100 but for the more serious collector, there are some spectacular models available which cost thousands.
Rega’s Planar 2 model at £375 has garnered a strong reputation for its crisp sound and is a critics’ choice.
At the other end of the scale, those on a tight budget can get one from discount supermarket chain Aldi for only £29.
Most remarkably of all perhaps, vinyl is now so popular that big supermarkets like ASDA and Sainsbury’s are stocking it. This year so far, vinyl albums have generated £ 50 million of sales – nearly £1 million a week.
Grant Higgins, 26, has worked in Fopp in Glasgow’s west end for eight years and has seen the vinyl comeback first-hand. “There are so many young people really into vinyl nnow,” he said. “We’re talking kids as young as 10 and 11. It wasn’t long ago the vinyl section was in the back of the shop.
“Now it has its own aisle and the popularity is spreading. Sometimes it’s parents telling their kids what they should try but often you go to a party and see people using a record player and they want to show off their collection.”
Former editor of Q magazine and music journalist Matt Mason believes the popularity of vinyl will continue to grow.
He said: “Digital media has made discovering and listening to music a lot easier but some people still love the rituals of playing vinyl, having a tangible product to hold and sleeve art to pore over. Some artists even like recording on to vinyl, believing it gives their music a unique warmth.”
Amazon said record players were its highest-selling piece of music tech over last year’s festive season and HMV revealed it sold one turntable a minute in the weeks leading up to last Christmas.
With the number of vinyl sales doubling in the space of the last year, this Christmas is expected to be even more manic.