Vinyl
is on the rise as a physical music format even while sales of Music CD's, DVD's
and Digital Downloads are falling like a stone since 2014 as noted in my blog article
entitled “RIAA
says Streaming beating CD Sales - Why HD
Audio Physical Digital Music comeback progresses as Piracy is the Problem”.
However,
Streaming is the main means of consuming music, mainly via streaming services
like Spotify and Apple Music, now over 10 million paid subscribers strong as
noted in my blog
article entitled “How
Apple Music's 10 million paid subscribers will eclipse Spotify, Pandora, Amazon
Music and Google Play Music by December 2016”.
So
a poll done by ICM Unlimited research revealed that, surprisingly, a
significant reason for these vinyl purchases was due to the influence of the
dominant streaming services as explained in the article “Streaming
Drives Vinyl Sales, Not Necessarily Vinyl Listening”, published April 14,
2016 By Parker Hall, Digitaltrends.
So
how significant is vinyl sales to musicians?
RIAA Stats on Vinyl
sales - 17 million vinyl records framed by Millennials without turntables
According
to the RIAA, 17 million vinyl records were purchased in 2015. Based on the poll
done by ICM Unlimited research:
1.
52% of those polled had a vinyl record
player
2.
48% who had purchased a vinyl record in
March 2016 had never had it played
3.
7% of those vinyl purchasers didn't own
a turntable
This
explains why in the US of A, many Millennials simply have their vinyl's framed
instead of playing them. They regard them as artwork, rather than as a
practical music format; after all, you can't carry a vinyl player on your back
on play it in your car, given the convenience of streaming as pointed out by
Manchester student named Jordan Katende to the BBC: “I have vinyls in my room
but it’s more for decor. I don’t actually play them”.
And
investing in a Vinyl turntable complete with speakers isn't gonna happen;
they're just too expensive compared to just having a good pair of headphones, a
smartphone or a HD Audio Player such as the FiiO X3 2nd Gen Music Player as
described in my MICO Wars blog
article entitled “US$200
FiiO X3 2nd Gen Music Player is HD Music on a Budget”.
So
why are millennials stocking up on Vinyl?
ICM Unlimited research
on Vinyl phenomenon - Millennials see Vinyl as painting of a Musicians’ art
For
many Millennials, it’s mainly about supporting the artist and expressing their
appreciation for the artwork.
This
is often resplendent in the detailed artwork on the cardboard album covers of a
vinyl LP as pointed out by 18 y-o British student named Helena, quote: “I also
think it’s important to support artists financially if you can. I like it if
someone puts effort
into making a release look special”.
The
support is indeed welcome; many artiste barely make bank from streaming.
Ironically, vinyl, an outdated music format, seems to be filling that gap as
evidenced from the popularity of Taylor Swift's Vinyl version of her album 1989
as per my blog
article entitled “Taylor
Swift and Vinyl – Why Female Hipsters diggin’ her New Groove as Vinyl Sales
Rise”.
Truth
be told, it’s also an indication of how broken the Streaming model is if vinyl
sales are making more money than ad-based music streaming as pointed out in the
RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) report for 2015 in the article
“Vinyl
Sales Eclipsed Every Adbased Streamer In 2015”, published March 23, 2016
by Parker Hall, Digitaltrends.
Serious
vinyl collectors can pay hundreds of dollars to purchase what they consider to
be an artform from a bygone era rather than a practical music format. Streaming
isn’t making money; it’s fuelling music discovery for vinly-philic music
collectors with a sense of nostalgia and a desire to own a piece of the
musicians’ legacy.
I
suspect in the distant future, the same might happen to CD's and DVD's when
quartz crystal storage makes it possible to store all of YouTube music and
videos in a single crystal as predicted in my blog article
entitled “University
of Southampton and Eindhoven's University write and read Data to Quartz Crystal
- Eternal Storage borrowed from Superman Man of Steel”.
But
the verdict is clear; Music streaming is killing the Music Industry as
Millennials now regard vinyl records as an art form. To preserve the musical history, they collecting
and framing vinyl records in much the same way you’d buy a painting.
No comments:
Post a Comment