Vinyl appeared to be a contemporary dinosaur when compact discs emerged during the early ’90s. The appeal was evident. CDs are easier to store, contain more music than vinyl and are less likely to be damaged. By 2007 more than 200 billion CDs were sold.
However, vinyl reemerged just as CDs hit that sales milestone. The reason is that music fans longed for the warmth of vinyl and a tangible product with full art.
There’s no question the art and sound are much better with vinyl,” Siren Records owner Blair Elliot said.
Siren, which has been a Doylestown staple since Elliot graduated from NYU to run the record shop in 1990, sells vinyl on the town’s idyllic East State Street and via mail.
According to Elliot, all genres are pushing vinyl. “Country artists make a point of telling fans to buy vinyl,” Elliot said. “The great thing for us is that they tell fans to buy from independent record shops. It’s really been good since pop artists have encouraged fans to buy vinyl and now there is a new generation of fans buying vinyl. The artists influence fans and we see it in the store.”
In June 2017, Sony Music announced that it would start producing vinyl records-in house for the first time since easing production in 1989. Taylor Swift’s popularity pushed vinyl to new levels over recent years.
The Recording Industry Association of America reported that vinyl is flourishing. According to RIAA in 2022, revenues from vinyl records grew 17 percent to $1.2 billion. That was the 16th consecutive year of growth and accounted for 71 percent of physical format revenues. For the first time since 1987, vinyl albums outsold CDs in units, 41 million to 33 million.
When CDs became popular a generation ago some believed that new vinyl would vanish. However, there is no such talk for CDs, which are making a comeback. “People are buying more CDs these days,” Elliot said.
However, vinyl remains the source for dedicated music aficionados. Flat sounding downloads remain popular for casual fans. There’s a format for every music lover but vinyl is what it’s all about on Record Store Day, which is slated for Saturday, April 12.
The bi-annual event, which started in 2008, is held one Saturday every April and every Black Friday in November.
The event unites fans, artists and thousands of independent record stores around the world. It’s a day that keeps Elliott and the Siren staff very busy the week before the event. “It’s something we always look forward to,” Elliot said.
A concern for Elliot is President Trump’s tariffs, since American manufacturers of records tap into materials from other countries, which might impact the cost of albums.
But ardent fans may pay the increase since they’re passionate about music. Concert ticket prices over recent years have soared but shows are routinely sold out.
“It seems as though if you love music you’ll come out and support the recording artists by buying albums or tickets to their shows,” Elliot said. “I completely understand that.”