Subculture: Vinyl Revival

If you’ve been inside a record store or even Walmart lately, then you’ve probably noticed that vinyl has pretty much taken over the music section.

It’s not your imagination, vinyl has been making a comeback and according to the statistics, millennials and Gen Z have been a large reason for that comeback. 

For this look into the vinyl revival, I’ll share a brief history of vinyl, what sales look like now, and finally share a few local spots where you can pick up vinyl.

According to Speakergy.com “phonograph records were first invented by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877”. The first records didn’t look like the records we would recognize today.

“Records that looked like what we know today were made and marketed in 1889 by Emile Berliner and sold in Europe”. The first 12-inch records were seen in 1903 and in 1948 a true LP record was introduced. Before 1948, “records could only play for up to four minutes which was about twice the playing time of the cylinder records of the time”. Finally, in 1958 stereo records were readily available to the public.  

Billboard.com writes that “vinyl was the dominant format for album purchases in the U.S. up until the early 1980s. After that cassettes took hold until the early 1990s, when the CD format blossomed and remained dominant until 2021”. 

Business Insider.com states in an article from March 2023 that “vinyl sales have surpassed CDs for the first time in 35 years”. In the same article, Business Insider stated that according to the RIAA, “vinyl records made up a total of 70% of all physical music sales in 2022, bringing a total of $1.2 billion in revenue”. 

 Although vinyl is making a comeback, streaming is still the top choice for music consumption with the RIAA saying that in 2022 streaming accounted for 84% of total music revenue. 

According to Luminate, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Olivia Rodrigo are at the top of the list of vinyl sales. Classic rock artists like Fleetwood Mac and The Beatles were also in the top 10. 

If you're in Southern Utah and looking for vinyl buying options, well, look no further than Groovacious in Cedar City and Rock House Records in St. George. 

I had the chance to visit with Lisa Cretsinger of Groovacious and ask her about her thoughts on the vinyl revival. 

When I asked Lisa if she had noticed how popular vinyl has become, she said that she had and she's been selling and adding a lot more to the stock at Groovacious. She also said that she’s noticed a “gluttony of cheap record players/turn tables” on the market giving customers and consumers an inferior music listening experience.  

With the popularity of vinyl, Lisa hopes the music industry will take the initiative to educate consumers on what a good quality turn table can do, like “sail through any record defects”.

A good quality turn table/record player will make the most of the more expensive and oftentimes more limited vinyl being purchased. 

When I told Lisa that the numbers that I was looking at were saying that Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Olivia Rodrigo were the top-selling vinyls for 2022 she wasn’t surprised.

Not only have those albums been big sellers for her, but albums from Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Metallica, Arctic Monkeys, Tyler the Creator, Pheobe Bridgers, Hozier, Dr. Dre, and the Wu-Tang Clan have also been popular at Groovacious. 

Toward the end of our conversation, Lisa mentioned that she “believes any form of music listening is good”. “If streaming a track makes a person curious and wants to come in and buy the entire album that’s great”.  

Groovacious is located at 195 West 650 South in Cedar City and Rock House Records is located at 31 East St. George Blvd.