Renaissance of vinyl records prompts Greensburg pop-up sale
Mar. 26—As the compact disc marks 40 years of availability in the United States this month, it is being surpassed by an older form of music media — vinyl.
The number of CD album sales dropped by about 12%, to 36 million, between 2021 and 2022, while vinyl record sales grew to more than 43 million. That's a 4% increase, according to the Luminate 2022 Year-End Music Report.
The number of digital album sales dropped by about 23%, to 20 million.
The vinyl renaissance has fueled festivals, conventions and stores focused on records, including a pop-up shop Saturday at Green Beacon Galley in Greensburg. A few sellers set up inside the East Pittsburgh Street gallery with boxes of their wares for record hunters and prices starting at a couple bucks.
"It seems like 'the kids' are definitely starting to get into it," said Steven Hooks of Greensburg, who previously ran The Department of Records about a block away.
The annual report agreed.
Gen Z music listeners are 27% more likely to buy an album on vinyl compared to the average music listener.
Taylor Swift broke a single-week vinyl sales record with the release of her "Midnights" album, and 36% of her first-week album sales were vinyl, the report stated. The record runs about $30.
Hooks said he has been picking up vinyl throughout his life — gravitating toward industrial punk and similar genres. But with the latest craze, being a fan of his favorite form of music media has been a drag.
"It's made records much more expensive," he said.
Vinyl exploded in 2020 and 2021, nearly doubling in sales volume, according to Luminate's study from that time period. The format was popular in the 1960s and 1970s and then faded out as digital options, like the compact disc, became available.
The CD was first released in the United States in March 1983. It reached a height of popularity in 1999, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. Then, in 2020, vinyl sales outpaced that of CDs in the U.S. for the first time since the 1980s, CNN Business reported.
Hundreds of record shops were already in place by then and Record Store Day — a celebration of those shops — has been joined by exchanges in places like the Greensburg gallery. Co-owner Phil Harrold said the space is mostly to display artwork and for local bands to perform. They've done a few pop-up-style record shops.
"We have the space and we try to keep it filled with activities," Harrold said.
Josh Kostelnik of Greensburg perused the records for sale Saturday.
"We are just trying to do what we can to build a little community here in Greensburg for people who love music and the arts," he said.
While Taylor Swift is having success through the younger generation's interest in vinyl, older music listeners may be dusting off their 1970s albums or seeking out newer copies of old favorites.
The Luminate report showed a few surprising albums made the top 10 vinyl sales list in 2022: Fleetwood Mac's 1977 "Rumors" with 243,000; Michael Jackson's 1982 "Thriller" with 169,000; and The Beatles' 1969 "Abbey Road" with 160,000.
Hooks said Saturday's pop-up shop would likely be his last time dragging the boxes of records out for sale. He hoped to get a buyer to take all of them off of his hands.
"They're so heavy, and they take up too much space," he said.
But he will be hanging on to the few thousand in his personal collection.
Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta by email at rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .
