At first, it looked like it might be a momentary revolt against the digital future that would inevitably fade away: a rebellion based on plastic, cardboard and century-old technology that was simply too quaint to last. But after at least 15 years of growth, the renaissance of old-fashioned vinyl still seems to be alive and well. This Christmas was surely a case in point: thousands of us will have unwrapped records, the hardware that plays them, or both.
In 2022, 5.5m vinyl records were bought in the UK, the largest volume of sales since 1990. Over the first nine months of last year, British vinyl sales increased 13% year on year. The retail chain HMV has just returned to its famous premises on Oxford Street in central London: ceremonially opened in 1921 by Sir Edward Elgar, recently occupied by one of those irksome faux-American sweet shops, but now back in business as an updated version of its former self. It sells a lot more than records, but has set aside space for a mountain of vinyl, marketed “to a younger customer base” rather than the stereotype of nostalgic dads with money to burn.
