Vinyl Revival: (Still) Not A Phase

While we all know that streaming is leading the way in music consumption, there are still quite a number of folks who want a physical experience to accompany their auditory one—especially fans. Afterall, “records smell better than sound files,” as my dear mentor and Alternative Press editor-in-chief of 27 years Jason Pettigrew once said.

Nearly a decade ago now, people started talking about the “vinyl revival” in the digital music age as if it were a phase akin to that one regrettable haircut you got because you saw the singer of your favorite band sporting it.

However, specialty vinyl pressing in a myriad of colors and patterns, collectors editions and limited-quantity rare LPs have continued to make fans scramble en masse to purchase music on this once-antiquated format. (See: My mother’s asking me, “What do you know about vinyl?” when I asked her for a new record player for Christmas.)

As a company that presses many of our artists’ music on vinyl, we get to see the results of the continuing vinyl surge up close, but you don’t have to take it from us.

According to musicbiz.org “vinyl sales hit [a] history high in the U.S.” last year. During the usual “holiday shopping” period from late November to early December, 1.253 million vinyl units were sold—the highest electronically recorded sales number since 1991. Of those million+ records sold, independent record stores participating in Black Friday Record Store Day sold 542,000!

Want to press your music on vinyl, but need a helping hand (and affordable pricing!)? Hit us up at sales@180dbartists.com for more information, or check out our standard custom vinyl bundles.