Vinyl Keeps On Spinning
And so the trend continues: HMV reports that they were selling up to one turntable a minute in the weeks before Christmas and now Amazon follows suit with news that their best selling audio product of last year was – drum roll – the turntable!
Even though the seasonal hit was a relatively simple Jensen turntable with built-in speakers, perfect as an entry model, it does have a USB port for digitising records and also an aux for the iPod. It also has pitch control and tone adjustment and thus signifies that this has been the first ever turntable for many. Which is a good thing of course and reflects the continued rise in vinyl sales the world over.
In the US, sales for vinyl showed a 38% growth and even 56% in the UK (both numbers for 2014). That’s the biggest total in over two decades. And in Germany, the growth is still a remarkable 27,2% with over 1.8 million records sold. The last year that this number had been achieved was 1992. According to industry researchers MusicWatch, half of the vinyl buyers in the US are under 25.
We’re still using an old Technics turntable at home with a Linn needle and keep another Thorens player in the basement. And it’s good to see that vinyl departments in the big stores are returning. I’m looking forward to browsing the racks again at A1 record shop on East 6th Street in Manhattan and Permanent Records and Rough Trade in Brooklyn.
