I will never forget the first time I listened to a record played on vinyl. I was 13, and the iPod Nano was all the hype. My dad got invited to speak at a small Beatles celebration in Brooklyn (it was a known fact throughout the music industry that my dad was a Beatles fanatic, able to tell you anything “Beatles” you wanted to know). When we walked into the venue, it looked like a small coffee shop. We told the hostess that we were there for the listening event. The woman nodded and walked us through the cafe to an opening with no door, but covered by a light pink sheet. It felt like we were about to walk into a top-secret meeting of some sort.
As I walked through the sheet I was hit by a strong beam of light coming in through the big windows lined up on the far wall. There were folding chairs set up in the middle of the room, as well as some frilly pillows and funky beanbag seats that were already being occupied by whom I thought were the closest people to hippies that I had ever seen- this was before the “hipster” trend influenced by Urban Outfitters. My dad and I chose our seats and got ready to listen to the just recently remastered Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
I watched carefully as the needle on the turn table dipped down to meet the shiny black record, spinning ever so calmly. There were a few short seconds of static before the murmur of an audience’s pre-show chit-chat, followed by the distant sound of an accordion. I was waiting at the edge of my seat to hear the “BAH NAH NAH NAH” of George Harrison’s guitar, looking as if I was waiting for Sgt. Pepper’s band to actually appear in front of me to put on a show.
The sound of the record was clear and warm, and I was overwhelmed with the different sounds I had never noticed in the album before. It felt like I was truly listening to the album for the first time. For Christmas that year, I got a turn table and my first album on vinyl: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
About a year later, Spotify began to show up on the music map. Spotify offered unlimited music for only $10 a month, meanwhile, my friends and I were spending $1.29 per song on iTunes. Being a big music fan, my friends questioned why I didn’t hop on the streaming train right off the bat; it was obviously the best music service, offering every song ever made at one set price. However, when you stream, the music doesn’t belong to you. Streaming felt as if the music was just appearing out of thin air, and that did not sit well with me. Eventually, I was able to overlook the “streaming” aspect of streaming services, simply because it was the most cost efficient and the most convenient way to listen to music.
In 2011, Spotify had reached 1 million subscribers, a number that took them three years to hit. As Spotify grew, the value of the physical album rapidly declined. People were buying less CDs, vinyl had not been popular for about 20 years, and this was taking a heavy toll on the music industry.
“The whole business was declining,” said Larry Mattera, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Commerce and Marketing for Warner Brothers Records. “People were getting laid off because there just wasn’t enough money coming in through physical downloads or in-store purchases.”
As Spotify grew in popularity, the industry was able to make digital streaming and sales a new focus of the business. Now, in 2018, Spotify has 83 million monthly listeners.
“Streaming has helped music come back to the masses,” Mattera continued. “It’s been just over the past three years that the industry has begun growing again, and now, our top revenue is all digital.”
Through the decline of the CD and the initial growth of Spotify, vinyl records were hardly ever thought of. Every record store chain closed down, leaving behind only a few Newberry Comics, one Amoeba Music, and a small handful of independent record stores scattered all over. Vinyl had been on the decline since the late 1980s, and by the birth of Spotify it was thought that vinyl no longer had much of a place in terms of obtaining new music.
The time between 2011 and 2014 was a strange one, with digital streaming taking over the musical lives and phone storage space of fans everywhere. Although music fans loved the convenience and the price of streaming, they began to miss something about having a physical album, and slowly but surely, we began to see a vinyl revival.
“Over the last five years we’ve see the proof,” said Mattera. “Every year we’ve seen vinyl get bigger. We’re selling more vinyl now since the year’s in which vinyl was number one.”
The obsession with streaming seemed to remind people of the way things used to be. There is perhaps a void that streaming services do not have the ability to fill.
“Whenever there’s a surge in technology advances there’s this natural ebb and flow between complete acceptance and reversion to older methods,” said Liz Markow from Glassnote Records. “At first, everyone is so excited for new technology, but then they freak out a little bit and revert to older methods. In the case of vinyl people really enjoy the physical aspect of listening to music, and being able to hold a product in your hand and put it on a turntable. Putting the needle down is exciting and tactile and I think we miss those sensations in the streaming age.”
In the small nooks and crannies of little towns and big cities, there are people who have never given up on vinyl, and worked through the vinyl gap. “In Your Ear,” a used record store in Boston, has been located in its same underground location for 25 years, and has been in business for 35 years.
“We have been selling more vinyl in recent years,” said long-time employee Albia Prager. “But as vinyl becomes more popular, more stores begin to sell them, leading to more competition for us.”
Larger chains such as Walmart and Target have been selling vinyl recently, due to the growth in demand. “Urban Outfitters is a big competitor now, too,” continued Prager.
Clothing store Urban Outfitters has added vinyl to their collection, possibly causing it to grow even more as a source of listening for fans and a source of revenue for the music industry. Mattera touched on the result the business is seeing from a trendy store like Urban Outfitters selling vinyl: “Now, we’re able to put more titles into the market place because there’s more demand for it,” he said. “And when there’s more demand, there’s going to be more of an opportunity to provide a deeper catalogue.”
Selling vinyl in such a popular store has made vinyl become trendier. Still, older music fans, like the In Your Ear employees, believe there is no comparison to the used, vintage albums they sell.
“Younger people are still listening to older music, because almost everyone would rather listen to a Beatles’ vinyl over Limp Biscuit,” said Prager’s partner Reed Lappin.
Although vinyl and streaming are two completely different ways of listening to music, there is no reason why they shouldn’t be able to be used harmoniously in the same time period, especially since there are great pros and cons to both services.
Boston University senior and music fan Lexi Herosian weighed the pros and cons of both. “Streaming is so convenient, and it’s much easier to discover new artists and make playlists, but you don’t get that raw sound you do on vinyl. People will always go back to vinyl, because it feels more authentic, and you feel more connected to the music and artist with something physical to hold on to. The cons with vinyl is that they’re harder to take care of, and they aren’t portable.”
Both Spotify and Vinyl are continuing to grow, but streaming more quickly and drastically than vinyl. Still, it is refreshing to me, someone who was so amazed the first time listening to music on vinyl, that we can find a balance and use both services to our advantage.
The rise of vinyl is extremely exciting for its vintage feel and its rawness. You can never go wrong with going back to the basics- not to say that Spotify should be forgotten, because the cheap price and portability of streaming is just too good to turn down.
“With streaming, it’s all about access and convenience,” said Mattera. “You have access to the entire library of music in the world. You have the history of music in the palm of your hand. But, there’s no artwork. There are no liner works, no lyrics. As a real music fan, vinyl gives you something to hold and put on your shelf as a collectable. You can’t put a streaming service on your shelf.”