Why are vinyls coming back?

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (WJAC) — Saturday was National Record Store Day, with folks across the country flocking to their local record store to peruse and pick up some vinyl records.

Vinyl records used to be the top-selling format for music. Throughout the 1980s, vinyl sales plummeted as other formats rose in popularity. But in the digital age, the century-old format's is making a comeback.

In fact, data from the Recording Industry Association of America's 2022 revenue report shows the number of vinyls sold increasing for the past 16 years, especially spiking in 2021 after the pandemic. 2022 saw over $1.2 billion in revenue for vinyl LPs and EPs, beating CDs for the first time since 1987.

All that begs the question: Why are vinyls coming back?

"Well, they should have never left," says Josh Ferko with a chuckle.

Ferko is the owner of Stax Of Trax in downtown State College — part of an underground commercial space that also includes a bookstore, clothing store, and cafe. He's been selling records for 50 years, after graduating from Penn State University in 1973.

"Well, part of it is definitely, you know, like the cool thing that's going on," he tells 6 News. "But I give everybody big, big, big credit for realizing that there's an alternative to the way that music is being presented to us now in the streaming world."

"When you're buying records and listening to music that way," Ferko also says, "you share a lot more with people. You'll have a get together and hang out, you know, and spin records. It's a whole different experience."

Ferko points out that the appeal also extends beyond the physical records.

"With Spotify and stuff, you're gonna learn stuff, but to walk into a store and hear something, you know, it's— it's a whole different thing," he says. "Again, that's— that's the beauty of it. And you know, if it's a cool place where the owners like to share music with people, you'll learn a lot of history, you know? Like— I like just like to tell people stories."

After all these years, the all-time classics still sell well, with Ferko bringing up albums from Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, as well as Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" (1977). Though, he emphasizes that his wide array of vintage records have people waiting in line, waiting for him to open up shop on Saturdays, when he typically brings in a new batch of finds.

And while streaming platforms like Spotify will use an algorithm to recommend you new music, Ferko says nothing beats that human touch.

"Sometimes people get a little deeper into the hunt, you know, like, I'm playing an Ike and Tina Turner record right now. ... People will say, 'Who's that?' And that's part of ... having a record store, is turning people on to great stuff, making recommendations."

Despite vinyl sales coming back, they still fall far behind streaming revenue, per the RIAA revenue report. While other formats have surpassed vinyl: Kill it, they did not.

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