Vinyl sales officially trumped CDs for a second year in a row: Vinyl continues its remarkable recovery in style. Vinyl outsold CDs for the second year in a row according to official statistics from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). RIAA’s latest figures report that 43 million vinyl records were sold in 2023, outstripping the 37 million CDs shifted over the same period, amounting to $1.4 billion worth of revenue. This is the second year running that vinyl has outsold its digital cousin. We reported last year that vinyl had momentously beaten CD sales in 2022 for the first time since 1987, with vinyl albums selling 41 million units in comparison to just 33 million for CDs. The reasons for this resurgence aren’t set in stone, but it’s easy to point to some obvious reasons.
Millcreek, UT | Vinyl Revival pop-up storefront targets crate collectors and music lovers: Dressed in their hard-rock band shirts and Doc Martens boots, Eric Yuhas and Chris Bowen have an unexpected answer when asked about the rise in popularity of records, dubbed the “vinyl revival.” “All the artists now are all coming out with vinyls. Vinyl outsold CDs for the first time in like 30 years in the last couple of years, and that’s because of Taylor Swift,” Yuhas said. “We’re closet Swifties,” quipped Bowen with a laugh. The men, who are in their 50s, are not the singer’s typical fan base but have an appreciation for her music. While his daughter’s record collection of bands like Boy Genius or Swift differs from his own collection, Yuhas said it’s an experience they get to share together. “Being able to share music with people, it just bonds people together,” he said.
Louisville, KY | Longtime record store in Germantown set to close after 28 years: Underground Sounds, a staple on Barret Avenue will be closing its doors in May. When you step inside the shop at 1006 Barret Avenue, you’ll hear the fleeting sound of music. “This store is about turning people on to music,” Craig Rich said. In two months, Underground Sounds will bid farewell. Rich, who owns the shop, said it is bittersweet. He said if there were music that defined the pending closure, it would be something slow and melancholy like jazz pianist Bill Evans. He said his new landlords informed him they would not be renewing his lease. Originally a mail-order company that Rich had since he was a teenager, his business has withstood the ever evolving technologies and trends for 28 years. Underground Sounds will close before May 1. While it faces an uncertain future, Rich said it will not be the last of it.
St. Petersburg, FL | Bananas Records Achieves Time Travel: My favorite block in Florida is in St. Pete at 22nd Ave North and 29th St North. You’ve got all the awesomeness of the goodies at Mazzaro’s Italian Market on one side. On the other, Bananas Records has so many unique finds that take you back to the 1900s. (Sounds so long ago when you say it that way doesn’t it?) Bananas Records has been around since 1977. Bananas is mostly known for their enormous vinyl collection. According to their website, they have 3-1/2 MILLION records. But they also sell random throwback stuff like lunchboxes, band t-shirts, CDs, DVDs, old radios, and technology that Best Buy gave up on years ago. But it takes you back. It’s the closest thing to time travel we have. They still host live music events and it’s the destination for vinyl enthusiasts on Record Store Day coming up next month.
MT | Terrific Montana Records Stores that deserve to be on this list: We may not be able to say that Montana has been snubbed again, but with the incredible music news we’ve had lately, it seems that Montana is worthy of a spot on a list that was recently published. It’s almost record store day so a lot of new music or reissues will drop and lists like the ‘best record stores in the country’ are being published. One such list from StudyFinds put together “A Coast-to-Coast Guide To The Best Record Stores In The US” and they have some admirable selections, and none of them are in Montana. Do Montana record stores hold live concerts with the likes of Paul McCartney? Probably not. Or have cafes? Not exactly. But they create a sense of community the same way that many stores on the list do. So here’s a little shout-out to a few of the faves around the state.
Dayton, OH | Kettering Game Swap fills void of bygone entertainment era: Venue is one part arcade, one part record shop and several parts racks of movies. In a Kettering strip mall, sandwiched between a Mexican restaurant and a dollar store, is a time machine that will perpetually take you back to 1998. But that’s exactly the vibe that Game Swap is going for. One part arcade, one part record shop and several parts racks of movies, Game Swap has the aura of a brick-and-mortar video rental house while offering a buffet of entertainment across the board — name it and they probably have it. The low pile carpet and a general musk of stuff heighten the déjà vu, though this time when we pay $3.99 for “Tron” we get to keep it. “Our little tagline that I came up with is ‘feed your nostalgia,’” said Stephen Alexander, Assistant Manager at Game Swap. “That’s what we want people to feel when they come in here.”
Nashville, TN | Graphic Design Students Spend Time at The Vinyl Lab: Branding, design, music, science, and marketing collided during a graphic design class visit to The Vinyl Lab and The Vinyl Lounge in the Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood. The visual communications program in the School of Arts and Humanities spent time with Scott Lemasters, founding partner and CEO, and Hunter Urtubees, director of record manufacturing. The Vinyl Lab is a state-of-the-art vinyl record pressing facility on 3rd Avenue South. As Nashville’s only boutique, locally owned vinyl pressing facility, it was founded in service of the hardworking musicians and talented artists who keep Music City alive. The Vinyl Lounge is an adjoining two-floor entertainment venue. The visit and tour gave students firsthand knowledge of the process of record making—everything from conceptualization to design file delivery and then the physical pressing & packaging process.
Billie Eilish hits out at artists who release multiple vinyl formats to boost album sales: “I find it really frustrating.” “I can’t even express to you how wasteful it is.” Billie Eilish has criticised artists who release multiple vinyl formats to boost album sales, calling the practise “really frustrating.” …“We live in this day and age where, for some reason, it’s very important to some artists to make all sorts of different vinyl and packaging,” Eilish began, “which ups the sales and ups the numbers and gets them more money.” …“It is right in front of our faces and people are just getting away with it left and right,” she added, “and I find it really frustrating as somebody who really goes out of my way to be sustainable and do the best that I can and try to involve everybody in my team in being sustainable—and then it’s some of the biggest artists in the world making f–king 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more. “It’s so wasteful, and it’s irritating to me that we’re still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money—and it’s all your favorite artists doing that sh-t.”
Sean Ono Lennon calls out Billie Eilish over her complaints about vinyl variants: …“The vinyl record industry is a tiny shadow of what it once was. LPs and 45s are NOT disposable single use plastics,” he writes. “Everyone complaining about vinyl records from an environmental perspective are doing so with their cellphones and their computers and their blue jeans and their sneakers and their bulls***.” Lennon doesn’t mention Eilish by name but insists he’s not trying to disrespect her. “The main artist speaking on this is brilliant and talented at music,” he shares. “I love them very much actually.” He continues, “But coming out against a tiny niche market in an industry that has already been gutted by streaming services, is not the win you think it is. We literally only have a tiny handful of factories globally that can even print vinyl anymore.” “Leave us boomers alone. We like our music to sound good. Let us have our records in the physical world. You can stream all you want to pay a tiny handful of CEOs. But we like vinyl” the 48-year-old Lennon warns, signing off, “From my cold dead hands!”
