In 2020, vinyl sales were the highest since the early nineties with over 4 million vinyl LPs purchased. With the rise of music streaming in the last decade, it’s fair to say that this resurgence in “physical music” is surprising. Here are four reasons why we think turntables are so popular amongst the younger generation. 

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It’s something you can touch and collect

A vinyl can be shared, traded, gifted, put on the wall as a decoration, passed over to your kids or grandkids, there is something special about that. The artwork on the cover is large and gives you a familiar feeling that we all used to have when we bought records, tapes or CDs back in the day. Also, once you own your vinyl, it’s yours to keep. Streaming music is only yours as long as the platform you’re streaming your music from is up and running. 

It’s an experience

Buying a record in a store is a special experience in itself. Hunting through hundreds of records to find the one that makes you feel happy and excited is a feeling you don’t have when streaming music, it’s similar to doing a scavenger hunt with your friends when you’re younger. The listening part once you get home, it’s also something unique. Opening the record, looking at the artwork, rediscovering the lyrics and the artist credits, laying the record on your turntable and simply enjoying the music, there is something special about that. 

It brings us together

Vinyl is a passion that can be shared across all generations, from your jazz fanatic grandma to your metal addict dad, this hobby brings people of all ages together for the love of music. In fact, we see more and more parents buying their children a Crosley record player, they’re colourful, appealing to kids they look fun and they’re super easy to set up. It’s actually a great thing you can share with your children and it could definitely bring you closer together. 

It’s valuable!

Having a decent record collection could be a good investment as they can be resold at a high price later on. Retro LPs such as Elvis Presley or The Clash can be sold for hundreds of pounds across marketplaces so it’s definitely something to keep in mind when you start collecting records.