ACCORDING TO ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE
Vinyl Is Poised to Outsell CDs For the First Time Since 1986...
THIS CRACKS ME UP...
Sales of vinyl records have enjoyed constant growth in recent years. At the same time, CD sales are in a nosedive. Last year, the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) mid-year report suggested that CD sales were declining three times as fast as vinyl sales were growing. In February, the RIAA reported that vinyl sales accounted for more than a third of the revenue coming from physical releases.
This trend continues in RIAA’s 2019 mid-year report, which came out on Thursday. Vinyl records earned $224.1 million (on 8.6 million units) in the first half of 2019, closing in on the $247.9 million (on 18.6 million units) generated by CD sales. Vinyl revenue grew by 12.8% in the second half of 2018 and 12.9% in the first six months of 2019, while the revenue from CDs barely budged. If these trends hold, records will soon be generating more money than compact discs.
Despite vinyl’s growth, streaming still dominates the music industry — records accounted for just 4 percent of total revenues in the first half of 2019. In contrast, paid subscriptions to streaming services generated 62 percent of industry revenues.
This trend continues in RIAA’s 2019 mid-year report, which came out on Thursday. Vinyl records earned $224.1 million (on 8.6 million units) in the first half of 2019, closing in on the $247.9 million (on 18.6 million units) generated by CD sales. Vinyl revenue grew by 12.8% in the second half of 2018 and 12.9% in the first six months of 2019, while the revenue from CDs barely budged. If these trends hold, records will soon be generating more money than compact discs.
Despite vinyl’s growth, streaming still dominates the music industry — records accounted for just 4 percent of total revenues in the first half of 2019. In contrast, paid subscriptions to streaming services generated 62 percent of industry revenues.
Back in the 80's I switched from vinyl to CD's. The primary reason was the poor quality of LP's in those days. Something over a fourth of all LP's had audible defects, usually popping sounds due to imbedded paper in the plastic. Companies recycled unsold discs, but they were careless about removing paper labels from the recycled plastic. Davis' own label Columbia was a particularly egregious producer of defective LP's. The only reliable label was Deutsche Gramophone, but their list was primarily classical.
ReplyDeleteThe was an evolved symbiosis between instruments, recording equipment and playback equipment that produced a sound connoisseurs preferred. I could never detect the difference. Nowadays, companies like Barnes & Noble offer jack cheap turntables and amplifiers. You can still get good quality equipment, but it will cost you something like $500 for the turntable and another $500 for the receiver/amp.
I had a MacIntosh amp and pre-amp, Garrard 'zero-track' turntable and Bose 701 and Acoustibass subwoofer speakers. My neighbors were not happy people.
ReplyDelete