VINYL revival

For music purists and audiophiles, there’s nothing like that soft, distinct crackle of a turntable’s needle when it lands on the grooves of a vinyl album. That sound, just before the opening strains of a freshly unwrapped record, is a signal that sends shivers up spines, alerting our brains that something wonderful is about to happen.

Those who rely on a music industry now dominated by iTunes and streaming sites such as Spotify and Pandora don’t know what that feels like. Some don’t want to know. But vinyl, ostensibly rendered extinct by the compact disc with its “perfect” digital sound, is making an unlikely but significant comeback. In an era in which even digital album sales have fallen, vinyl records are smashing sales records and landing in the eager hands of music enthusiasts both young and old.

The vast majority of vinyl sold today is bought by the 20- and 30-something aged millennials, according to data from the Recording Industry Association of America. Largely speaking, these young people aren’t buying records by Beyonce, Jay-Z, Rhianna or Taylor Swift. Instead, they’re rediscovering legends like Miles Davis and David Bowie, and 70s bands like Fleetwood Mac and Pink Floyd.

Alyson Leahy, 30, of Wausau, says her record collection started with hand-me-down albums from her parents—mostly rock artists from the early 70s.

“My parents graduated in 1976, and the music of their high school years was then passed down to me and my brothers,” Leahy says. “Music was something we shared growing up. A radio was always on somewhere in the house.”

Piece by piece starting in her college years, Leahy inherited her parents’ record collection, and played them on an old hi-fi that she dragged from one college apartment to the next.

“Vinyl is a way to connect with my parents, and a way for them to share experiences,” she says. “They remember where they were or what they were doing when they hear a specific song, and then I get to hear that story.

More than retro-mania

To grow at the rate it is, there’s clearly something happening here.

Vinyl remains a niche, but a pretty significant one that continues to be a major bright spot in the industry. Record sales have been on the rise for more than 10 years, but the past five or six years have seen the real boom in vinyl sales in the U.S. and around the world.

More than 3 million vinyl records were sold in 2016, the first time that threshold has been passed since 1991. And 2016 was the ninth year in a row that vinyl sales increased (by 44% compared to 2015). Vinyl albums even made more money than digital album sales for at least one week in November, according to SoundScan.

On one level, the vinyl resurgence could simply be the latest manifestation of a temporary condition that some might call “retro-mania.”

Or maybe it’s about the aesthetics. Records and their packaging are more beautiful and substantial than CDs. They make buying music feel like an event.

At least one company—Vinyl Me, Please—is cashing in on the idea that music on vinyl is an experience. The company began in January 2013 with 12 paying members and has grown to more than 20,000 today. As coworkers at a Chicago tech startup in the early 2000s, founders Matt Fielder and Tyler Barstow were roommates who shared a love of music, along with an old record player that became the focal point of their apartment. The record club was borne mostly out of frustration, as the two friends struggled to find quality records to build their collection.

Now based in Madison, the company’s hallmark is a subscription service that offers a featured album of the month along with album-inspired original art print and a custom cocktail recipe, all for around $25 a month. Each record is pressed exclusively for VMP and has features you can’t get anywhere else—bonus tracks, inserts and colored variants (My Morning Jacket’s Z, for example, is pressed on white vinyl with a blue tie-dye pattern).

But for vinyl to see such a resurgence, it first had to die a million deaths.

Near death, then resurgence

You could say that vinyl died either in the late 80s—when the music medium suffered its first massive blow—or the mid 00s, when it reached its nadir.

Vinyl singles hit 228 million units in 1973, the first year tracked by the Recording Industry Association of America, and LP/EPs hit their top at 341.3 million in 1978. From 1984 to 1988, total vinyl shipments fell by more than half, a trend that repeated year after year.

By 1991, the industry sold 22 million vinyl singles and 4.8 million LPs/EPs. The vinyl single bottomed out at 300,000 in 2009, a number it would repeat in 2010, and, indeed, last year. Until the recent rebound, annual vinyl LP/EP shipments never got higher than 3.4 million (1998), and cratered at 900,000 in 2006. Globally, sales tumbled from a 1981 peak of 1.1 billion to just 3 million in 2006.

But vinyl didn’t die completely, and recently started hitting sales levels not seen since 1991. Locally, that comeback is especially noticeable at Inner Sleeve Records, Wausau’s only independently owned record store.

Owner Mike Capista has been selling records at Inner Sleeve—named for the extra storage “sleeve” Capista puts inside each album when it’s sold—since 1975, when he first opened in a tiny shop on Grand Avenue. A few months after opening, Capista moved his shop to what is now City Bike Works in the 900 block of Third Street, then later to its current location on Scott Street in Wausau.

In the early years, the store’s bins were stocked almost exclusively with vinyl. But then the market changed, and by the early 2000s, albums had all but disappeared from Inner Sleeve. The market changed again, and today, about a third of the store’s space is dedicated to vinyl records, new and used.

Another thing that changed is the price. In the 1970s, new records at Inner Sleeve sold for around $3 apiece. Today, a remastered version of The Raspberries’ Best (originally released in 1972, selling for $3) sells for about $36—more than double the cost even adjusting for inflation, which would put a $3 record in the 1970s at $17.50 today.

Recording quality has evolved, too. Many of today’s new albums, particularly by independent labels, are extremely well made and sound great even on a mediocre stereo system. You might see a sticker announcing the music is pressed on “180-gram” vinyl, and that’s a good thing, especially if you’re an audiophile. Chances are, an old Van Halen record was pressed on a lighter material, usually 120- or 140-gram vinyl. Industry experts say the thicker vinyl will degrade more slowly than a thinner pressing and stand up to repeat play just a little bit better. That said, all vinyl degrades every time you play it. That’s just the way it is.

Even with a few pops and crackles, though, aficionados often attribute a “warmth” to the pure analog sound of a vinyl record that cannot be reproduced in a digital format. This sound is actually a result of analog’s limitations in capturing and reproducing sound, particularly on the low end of the mix.

What does this mean? Digital recordings are far more accurate and capture a broader dynamic range, according to industry experts. Analog recordings are less detailed, but those gaps create a sound that’s often more pleasing to the ear. It’s similar to images captured on film as opposed to digital cameras. Purely digital recording can feel too precise and clinical, and lose the “warmth” many people associate with analog technology.

Future of the industry

Nostalgia is just part of the draw. It seems that many music fans are set to continue putting the needle on the record, which is good news for the future of the industry. John Altenburgh, owner of Altenburgh Records in Mosinee, says artists and record companies are taking notice of the vinyl trend.

“Believe it or not, I’m going to make some vinyl on my next album coming up,” Altenburgh says.

But even with the increased interest in vinyl, the industry does face challenges. For one, LPs are expensive to produce, costing recording artists significantly more than the price of a CD. Depending on quantity, a single album can cost producers between $15-20 each, according to industry averages. Mastering and duplicating CDs, by contrast, will cost somewhere between $3-7.

And one of the most significant barriers to the triumphant return of vinyl is in the manufacturing process. Given its near-obsolete status until comparatively recently, the technology required to manufacture vinyl has been difficult to access, given that very few factories produce records. Presses have been in short supply because they barely exist. As a recent Wall Street Journal story reported, 90% of raw materials for vinyl production in 2014 were produced by one company. This means that the future of vinyl production will require considerable investment from record companies in the re-production of expensive technology. 

Longtime local radio DJ Duff Damos says that no matter what technology dominates the future of the industry, one thing that won’t go away is the real appeal of vinyl: the sound. Damos, who spent nearly two decades on air at WIFC in Wausau, is the operations manager for five NRG Media’s five northern Wisconsin stations. Damos is still heard afternoons on classic rock station 105.3 WRLO in Antigo, where his office walls are lined with gold and platinum records given to him by recording company executives throughout the years.

Whether you can critique and quantify it, or just want to close your eyes and listen, the differences between vinyl and digital are enormous. Music sounds vivid and real with records. Voices sound human. Whether you’re new to vinyl or rediscovering your old collection, that never changes, and is something that mp3s will always struggle to pull off.

“Long live vinyl—and discovering how it used to be,” Damos says. “It was indeed great technology.”

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Five burning questions about vinyl

Q: Vinyl is analog, but what does that mean?

A: Analog recordings replicate sound waves, a continuous signal of varying air pressure, by converting this pressure into electrical signals. Basically, the vinyl grooves are a drawing of the sound wave, which your turntable decodes to create the sound you hear from the speakers.

Digital signals are not continuous, but instead a series of audio data, dividing the sound wave into bits. It’s akin to seeing that a digital photo is actually millions of individual pixels.

Q: What kind of turntable do I need?

A: If you care deeply about sound, you’ll spend a lot more money. If you want something inexpensive and/or cute, the sound in most cases will be only OK. But seriously, don’t get hung up on that unless you’re an audiophile. A decent yet inexpensive turntable will be fine. You’re better off buying a new turntable instead of finding something vintage. Old turntables will be expensive to fix if something goes wrong. Most good, new turntables have a built-in pre-amp, so you can sidestep some of the more obnoxious aspects of building a stereo system. 

Q: How do I store my vinyl collection?

A: In a cool, dry place, standing up vertically. Stacking them on top of one another runs a high risk of warping and they’ll never sound right again.

Q: What is RPM?

A: Revolutions per minute. Vinyl records are produced to play at one of three speeds: 33-1/3 RPM, 45 RPM, and 78 RPM. You almost never will deal with 78 records. Most full-size 12-inch records play at 33 1/3 RPM, though some—mainly EPs and maxi-singles—play at 45 RPM. And 10-inch records… well, that’s a wild card. The RPM of a record will be printed somewhere on the label. Just switch your turntable to match it.

Q: Is it better to buy a new pressing of an old record or the original?

A: For most vinyl reissues, the master is made from the most recent CD (digital) because the record label doesn’t have access to the original analog master. This defeats the point if you’re into the “warmth” factor —you’re basically buying a lesser, imperfect version of a CD. Just do a bit of research to see if a new reissue is sourced from CD. You can usually find out online, or ask Mike Capista at Inner Sleeve. 

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Top 10 selling vinyl albums of 2016

Looking at U.S. sales, it’s clear that beloved vinyl comes in all flavors, from classic rock to new mainstream hits. The best-sellers included pop sensations like Adele and Lana Del Rey, to classics like David Bowie, Miles Davis, and alternative groups such as Twenty One Pilots. This wide variety speaks to the diversity of vinyl buyers.

1.    Twenty One Pilots, Blurryface    68,000 units sold

2.    David Bowie, Blackstar    66,000 units sold

3.    Adele, 25    58,000 units sold

4.    Amy Winehouse, Back to Black    58,000 units sold

5.    Radiohead, A Moon Shaped Pool    57,000 units sold

6.    The Beatles, Abbey Road    54,000 units sold

7.    Bob Marley and the Wailers, Legend: The Best Of…    49,000 units sold

8.    Twenty One Pilots, Vessel    46,000 units sold

9.    Miles Davis, Kind of Blue    42,000 units sold

10.  Lana Del Rey, Born to Die    39,000 units sold

Source: Nielsen/Billboard, for Jan.–Dec. 2016