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Thread: Rumors of the vinyl revival's imminent demise were exaggerated

  1. #1

    Rumors of the vinyl revival's imminent demise were exaggerated

    When vinyl sales in 2017 didn't grow much over 2016 - and the rate of growth from 2015 to 2016 itself was down - many had speculated, myself included, that we perhaps had reached "peak vinyl."

    However, the mid-year United States numbers are available, and vinyl sales are up a whopping 19.2% over 2017, for the same time period. For the first two quarters of 2018, vinyl record sales represented 18.7% of physical album sales. That's now a significant percentage. I can't imagine many people thought 10 years ago that, in 2018, 1 out of every 5 physical albums sold would be a vinyl record (absent the onset of a Butlerian Jihad).


    https://www.billboard.com/articles/c...rts-jack-white

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    Excellent news. Long live vinyl.
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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Facelift View Post
    However, the mid-year United States numbers are available, and vinyl sales are up a whopping 19.2% over 2017, for the same time period. For the first two quarters of 2018, vinyl record sales represented 18.7% of physical album sales.[/url]
    And are physical album sales up overall, or is it possible that CD sales have gone down and vinyl sales didn't, so vinyl sales are now just a higher percentage of physical sales? Or maybe vinyl sales did in fact go up.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    It defies explanation.
    But explanation - multiple forms of it - have been given to you - repeatedly. You just can't accept that people approach rhe music phenomenon in a different way than you.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Zappathustra View Post
    But explanation - multiple forms of it - have been given to you - repeatedly. You just can't accept that people approach rhe music phenomenon in a different way than you.
    since re-entry into the world of vinyl, my enjoyment of listening to music has been re-ignited big time, I just hope the bashing doesn't dissuade those considering trying vinyl from investigating. Vinyl on a decent turntable thru tubes sounds so right, foot tapping, head nodding fun.
    A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice.

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    Member hFx's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    It defies explanation.
    Not really - look at the top sellers of 2018

    2018’s Mid-Year Top 10 Selling Vinyl Albums
    1. Jack White, Boarding House Reach (37,000)
    2. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. (30,000)
    3. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (28,000)
    4. Michael Jackson, Thriller (28,000)
    5. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (28,000)

    6. Panic! at the Disco, Pray for the Wicked (26,000)
    7. Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods (26,000)
    8. Prince and the Revolution, Purple Rain (Soundtrack) (25,000)
    9. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black (25,000)
    10. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (23,000)

    Sound like any Walmart vinyl rack of yonder - maybe that's why Dark Side of the Moon didn't make the list...
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  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    And are physical album sales up overall, or is it possible that CD sales have gone down and vinyl sales didn't, so vinyl sales are now just a higher percentage of physical sales? Or maybe vinyl sales did in fact go up.
    ?

    It was right there in the passage you quoted from me. Vinyl sales are UP 19.2% over the first two quarters of 2017.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Facelift View Post
    ?

    It was right there in the passage you quoted from me. Vinyl sales are UP 19.2% over the first two quarters of 2017.
    Is the number of vinyl units sold up 19.2%, or just the percentage of vinyl units sold vs. the percentage of all other physical media units sold? You didn't say. I also didn't read the Billboard thing, so I don't know if it answers this question.

  9. #9
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    ^ Jed, he said sales, so it's either units sold or total dollars.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by hFx View Post
    Not really - look at the top sellers of 2018

    2018’s Mid-Year Top 10 Selling Vinyl Albums
    1. Jack White, Boarding House Reach (37,000)
    2. Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. (30,000)
    3. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (28,000)
    4. Michael Jackson, Thriller (28,000)
    5. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (28,000)

    6. Panic! at the Disco, Pray for the Wicked (26,000)
    7. Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods (26,000)
    8. Prince and the Revolution, Purple Rain (Soundtrack) (25,000)
    9. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black (25,000)
    10. The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (23,000)

    Sound like any Walmart vinyl rack of yonder - maybe that's why Dark Side of the Moon didn't make the list...
    Back catalog has been huge in the US market for decades. Back catalog was a big part of the speed with which CDs replaced vinyl between '88 and '91. Frankly, I find it surprising that the two highest selling vinyl records *aren't* back catalog.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Is the number of vinyl units sold up 19.2%, or just the percentage of vinyl units sold vs. the percentage of all other physical media units sold? You didn't say. I also didn't read the Billboard thing, so I don't know if it answers this question.
    Yes, I did say, and quite plainly. Read it again.

  12. #12
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    ^ Jed, he said sales, so it's either units sold or total dollars.
    It certainly could have been album sales as a percentage of all physical sales, except for the fact that he did then mentioned that figure.

    In any case, the Billboard article was much more specific, mentioning the actual number of albums by which sales increased.

  13. #13
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    ^ No, it couldn't.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    ^ No, it couldn't.
    Of course it could. It could always have been something else than what he said. Couldn't it? Do you claim that inevitably he said what he said, and not what he didn't say?

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    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zappathustra View Post
    Of course it could. It could always have been something else than what he said. Couldn't it? Do you claim that inevitably he said what he said, and not what he didn't say?
    Don't know about your word salad here, but sales and percentage of sales are not interchangeable. There's a reason Facelift was incredulous that the question was even asked.

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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    ^ No, it couldn't.
    Really? You can't say "as a percentage of all physical media sold this year, vinyl sales are up?" It's impossible for someone to say that, or you would not understand what that meant? Which is it?
    Last edited by JKL2000; 07-10-2018 at 11:50 AM.

  17. #17
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    There's a reason Facelift was incredulous that the question was even asked.
    Is the reason because he's in a constant state of incredulity?

  18. #18
    In a debate between two of the great thespians and wordsmiths of our time, anything is possible.

  19. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    Don't know about your word salad here, but sales and percentage of sales are not interchangeable. There's a reason Facelift was incredulous that the question was even asked.
    And I thought I wouldn't use a smiley, but our understanding hasn't yet reached that point! Sigh - it's my fault of course.

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    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Really? You can't say "as a percentage of all physical media sold this year, vinyl sales are up?" It's impossible for someone to say that, or you would not understand what that meant? Which is it?
    Seriously? Neither. He didn't say anything of the sort. I'm not the one having trouble with plain English and simple concepts.

  21. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    Could that be an indication that current music is all tree sap?
    I don't see it that way. The longer that the era of recorded music exists, the more "back catalog" items that there are.

    Also, factor in the ever-inflexible boomers who don't typically listen to anything other than the music of their era + their willingness to buy the same albums over and over and.... viola.

  22. #22
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    That's why the list holds so many chestnuts -- kids today don't buy.
    Your stereotype is out of date. Youtube is full of videos of teenagers showing off their latest "vinyls."
    Hurtleturtled Out of Heaven - an electronic music composition, on CD and vinyl
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    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    Seriously? Neither. He didn't say anything of the sort. I'm not the one having trouble with plain English and simple concepts.
    You got involved by arguing that there was no way someone could use the phrase "vinyl sales are up" in a way in which it would refer to a percentage of sales. I win.

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    Member hFx's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Triscuits View Post
    Your stereotype is out of date. Youtube is full of videos of teenagers showing off their latest "vinyls."
    So the next big viral thing is MJ Thriller and Fleetwood Mac? Naahh... The sales statistics so far rather support the Chestnut hypothesis.

    As far as I've seen (over here), most of the vinyl revival is fuelled by 40-somethingers that remembers the feel of the format.
    My Progressive Workshop at http://soundcloud.com/hfxx

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    Lots of love on this thread....haha.

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