In 1989, Sony decided to end its vinyl production in favor of then popular music formats like cassette tapes and compact discs (CDs). In March 2018, the music giant will return to production of the retro format.
The company has announced that its first batch of vinyl records would be produced in a factory located southwest of Tokyo, Japan. Sony has not disclosed yet which artists will be chosen for the vinyl revival, but we can expect such information in the coming months.
This move is spurred by three good reasons:
1. Promising revenue stream
The truth is, production of vinyl records by other companies has never stopped, although the scale may have been significantly trimmed. Sony surely saw the potential of returning to vinyl releases when the old format’s sales surprisingly reached $416 million in 2015, based on data from the Recording Industry Association of America. That figure even exceeded sales in 1988, a year before Sony vowed out of vinyl production.
This year, it is expected that the obscure vinyl music industry would post a double-digit growth with overall revenue reaching around $900 million. Actual data from the last few years indicate that the industry is undergoing a steep inclining trend and it is something music players could not afford to just shrug off.
2. Millennials’ increasing interest in vinyl
The continuous increase in sales of vinyl records reflect the enduring retro appeal of the format, especially among Millennial music lovers. Despite the popularity of more modern formats like MP3 and streaming, numerous Millennials think it is absolutely cool to own an extensive collection of records, which intangible streamed music simply could not provide.
3. Warmth of music
Music aficionados argue that there is something special in the nature of sound produced by vinyl. According to them, there is an unexplained level of depth and warmth added to music. That unique quality, they claim, gets totally lost in all other music formats.