By Jayden Presley
Vinyl record sales began declining in the late 1980s with the overtake of CDs. But, for the past several years, vinyl has made a comeback.
Dan Drinkard is the owner of Seasick Records in Avondale. He said he foresaw the public’s renewed interest in vinyl collecting, and that has been the company’s focus ever since opening in 2013.
“I think that people like to collect things,” he said. “There are shows like ‘Hoarders’ that exist, and Americans, especially post-Great Depression, have always grown up with the idea that we have to like have things. We like materialism.”
Seasick Records carry vinyl, CDs, vinyl accessories, record players, hats, t-shirts and apparel. They are a buy-sell-trade store and can also give people store credit to buy other items.
According to Ben Sisario from the New York Times, 17 million vinyl records were sold in the United States for the first six months of 2021, making it the music industry’s most popular and highest-grossing physical format.
“All those articles, they’ve been coming out for years and it’s not surprising,” said Drinkard. “We see it every day and sales certainly exploded over the pandemic.”
He said he doesn’t think vinyl sales will slow down anytime soon. Records generated $467 million in retail revenue in 2020. The downside to vinyl’s resurgence is the question of how the music industry can keep up with production.
“I don’t really know if they’re gonna be able to keep up with the demand, but there are new pressing plants opening all over the country,” he said.
Drinkard mentioned a new pressing plant in Memphis called “Memphis Record Pressing” that has expanded recently to add 50 to 100 more presses.
Streaming is the most popular form of accessing music and it has changed the way artists approach releasing their work.
Though streaming is not going away, Drinkard explained why it is better to have a physical copy of a music artist’s work.
“I think buying a physical album for an artist is the best way to financially support them unless you are going to their shows,” he said. “Artists get paid a much higher percentage of the sales than they do in streaming.”
Visit the Seasick Records website and Instagram if you’re looking to buy vinyl records.
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