In an increasingly digitized world, listening to a vinyl record is a wonderfully analog experience; something that must be done with purpose and intention. Every step requires time and thought, from selecting a turntable and speakers to actually getting the record you want, placing it on the turntable and playing it, preferably front-to-back. It’s a far cry from the instant, algorithmic gratification of playlists and streaming, an entirely different musical experience.
However, most people buying vinyl records in the US today don’t even have a record player. A recent study conducted by music sales data company Luminate has revealed that half of the 3,900 consumers surveyed who’d purchased a vinyl record in 2022 didn’t own a record player. “50% of consumers who have bought vinyl in the past 12 months own a record player, compared to 15% among music listeners overall,” the survey reads. Luminate seems to credit this odd trend to “superfans,” music listeners that “spend above average (median) time AND money on music, actively discover new music, participate in music-related activities on social media, and plan on attending a live music event in the next 12 months.”
These “superfans” may be avid pop music fans that snap up their favorite artists’ collectible merchandise drops, which often include (you guessed it) vinyl records — a theory supported by Consequence of Sound, which notes that the three highest-selling albums on vinyl in 2022 were Taylor Swift’s Midnight, Harry Styles‘ Harry’s House and Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour (for the record, Swift’s album sold 945,000 copies on vinyl, more than Styles’ 480,000 and Rodrigo’s 263,000 copies combined).
In short, pop music fans seem to view vinyl records more as a collector’s item than a way to consume music. The pros and cons of this mindset are debatable, of course — and may have contributed to the inflation of vinyl prices over the past decade — but, if nothing else, “superfans” in pop and beyond are helping keep the vinyl industry as a whole running: in March, Metallica bought their own pressing plant after their records were pressed almost a million times in 2022, and vinyl records outsold CDs for the first time since 1987 in 2022.
For more vinyl news, check out Hypebeast’s list of the 10 best Record Store Day 2023 releases.
