Vinyl record sales in 2020 surpassed CDs for the first time since the 1980s:
"Vinyl records accounted for $232.1 million of music sales in the first half of the year, compared to CDs, which brought in only $129.9 million. ... Since 2005, sales for vinyl have grown consecutively. In the first half of 2020, vinyl revenue was up 4%, while CD revenue was down 48%, according to the RIAA."
It seems like an opportunity for Apple to create a "vinyl filter" for Music, like a photo filter, to simulate the slight EQ profile and the physical scraping of playing a song on a turntable. I mean, if you really want it to sound worse, go ahead. It's no different than applying a "Polaroid" filter to a modern digital camera snapshot.
I think that would be the worst of both worlds, the good part of digital media are no rewinding, in your pocket, on demand. And the benefit of physical are big artwork, tangible, one copy. It is not about the sound of vinyl, but having it in your hands.
Sounds about right. Streaming is about being able to listen to anything you want. Vynil is about keeping what you like.
My Spotify history is full of songs and playlists which I don't even like, and I use it to explore other genres and artists. It's reasonable that only 5% of everyday people listen to is good enough to be acquired permanently.
Sometimes it’s reversed. Spotify has less than 50% of the artists and albums I have on CDs and I have been tempted to buy missing songs on vinyl. Spotify’s playlists also rot, roughly 1% of songs disappear per year.
Have in mind the vinyl market share isn't too far from the MacOS market share a couple of years ago. I see it as the premium niche, something we can't just ignore, especially if we consider the growth.
From a purely financial point of view, if that's all that matter, yes, you may compare streaming/vinyl/CDs.
... those are _different_ markets:
- Streaming is about subscription to a right to listen to music passing by, attached to a specific set of account (with all the metrics that come with it).
- Vinyl is about physical analog copies that you can transmit to someone across space and time and that are barely trackable.
Edit: but indeed, huge markets crush small ones...
For the most part I agree, although if I'm going to buy an entire album digitally, I do sometimes just buy the CD and rip it if the price is about the same.
That said, I finally got my music library cleaned up and decided to fill in some holes. But, at that point, I also decided I might as well just use subscription downloads from Apple Music. It's all very mainstream older stuff and if I do decide at some point, I want copies I own I can buy them if I want. But no need to spend the money right now just so I know I own everything.
But, like books, that's the only way my kids and their kids may keep the actual artefact of something that I did read or listen to (be it a book, or a vinyl).
So, if I appreaciate/care about what it is/says, I get a physical copy of it so I can give it to someone. Otherwise I know it's lost to them.