According to TechRadar, vinyl record sales dropped 33.3% between 2023 and 2024. Before I dive into the substance of this, the reporting outlet must have taken a slight liberty with the 33 1/3 percentage drop, right? I mean, what are the odds that the vinyl sales dip would equate precisely to the RPM speed of an LP?

Anyhoo, Carrie Marshall writes:

I love vinyl, and in a world where streaming CEOs have a higher net worth than almost any musician in history, I want to support artists directly by buying their stuff. But like many music fans, I’m buying a lot less now because I simply can’t afford the prices being charged.

I love vinyl, too. And supporting artists directly is important to me; it’s why I migrated away from using streaming services. However it’s very hard for me to justify spending $30 - $50 for a vinyl record, therefore I’ve been buying more digital downloads from Bandcamp lately.

My hope is that all of this is pointing toward a reaction in the vinyl market, after which we might get a settling of the supply and demand forces. I’d love to support more artists through the purchase of physical media, but it will be hard for most people until the prices come down.