Vinyl comeback #272

Dom Nola with part of her vinyl record collection. Photo- Ted Baghurst

And here we have a story on the vinyl comeback that makes some sense. Finally. Nice one, Alan Perrott...

"Natalie plays CDs in her car, uses an iPod when she's out and about, then puts a record on when she gets home.

It's her hierarchy of convenience and perceived authenticity - running from downloads to expensive vinyl - and from what is being heard at the shop counter, this is how increasing numbers of us are engaging with music.

So, with fingers crossed, I'm going to suggest Natalie's approach as the future, even if that's more in hope than in any great faith in the youth of the day after tomorrow. The alternative - gulp - is that vinyl, the vestigial nipple of music formats, is well into its final comeback, and it has had more than its fair share already.

Yes, new record sales in the US increased by 26 per cent last year, but the highest-selling album, Twenty One Pilots' Blurryface sold only 49,004 copies, while the bulk of the increase was likely because of grief purchases following the deaths of David Bowie and Prince.

Of course, there will be no end to the wide-eyed "believe it or not" reporting of this growth, but it remains hard to take the trend's medium-term prospects too seriously....

....Vinyl's best hope will be when it stops being seen as a hip and fashionable accessory and replaces the crappy T-shirt as the top-end expression of true fandom."

NZ Herald:For the love of vinyl