Physical media: dead or alive?
It’s well known that streaming services have lowered the usage of physical media dramatically. According to a study Statista conducted, more than 300 million LPs and EPs were sold each year during the 1970s, but fast forward to 2024 and that number has staggered to only 43.6 million.
Vinyls and CDs have become obsolete in a world that increasingly relies on instant access and portable convenience. However, physical media has not yet fully died out, as it still survives through music enthusiasts. The question is, will this be enough to sustain their future in society?
The biannual record store day was on April 12 and various shops throughout Los Angeles offered generous discounts in celebration. The Corsair visited Amoeba Music in Hollywood to gather a general consensus on the state of physical media.
Alan Pierce, age 48, was one of the many eager customers waiting in line outside the store. “I’ve been using vinyls and CDs since I was in my teens. Then it was out of necessity, now it has become a hobby more than anything else. I’ll end my days by putting on a record, but that’s as far as it goes,” said Pierce.
“It’s become impossible to deny apps like Spotify due to their accessibility. I love CDs, I’ll use them when driving, but I don’t love them enough to go back to walking around with a portable CD player all day long. You know? I think vinyls and CDs will always have a place as antiques,” said Pierce when asked about the future of physical media in society.
“While growing up, my parents kept a record player in the house. They’d only use it ever so often, but when they did it was nice for all of us. Because of that, I've always collected vinyls to play and hang around my room. It’s definitely something you do in your free time. Outside of that I'm not sure, I can’t imagine people going back,” said Nathan Ramirez, age 18, another customer in line.
Despite discrepancies in age, both young and old share a similar conclusion. Physical media has an undeniable sentimental value, but aside from that, it just doesn’t have the same use that it once did.
Chris Vagoni is the owner of Record Surplus, and worked at Record Surplus for 20 plus years before buying the store in 2021. Record Surplus, located on Santa Monica Boulevard, sells records, CDs, tapes and even laserdiscs.
When asked about the sales throughout the years, Vagoni said, “It's up and down, a bit of both, it's kinda seasonal within the year. During the pandemic things were super slow, and then ramped up big time once people were able to get out. Collecting in general during the pandemic kinda spiked and prices kinda shot up, they definitely come down a bit, but compared to pre-pandemic, prices have been higher in general for new records as well as vintage ones.”
Record Surplus has a selection of vinyls including rock, hip hop, classical, purely beats, jazz and soul.
“I try to keep records in the shop that sell, I will also take gambles on new stuff. My taste is narrow but I like to think it's broad. I'll take risks with new bands that I'm familiar with, that my customers maybe aren't, but if I have multiple customers asking about a band, I'll carry their stuff. Like last summer, Chappell Roan, she blew up. I didn't know much about her but we kept getting calls, so I was like, alright, let's see how three will go, boom, gone in the same day. We don't turn over records as fast as bigger shops like Amoeba so I try to be conservative with new records. Used records, I have a pretty good idea what sells and what I need. If I have too much of something, I’m not picking it up,” said Vangoni.
Vangoni’s love of physical media translates to his personal life as well, though there is some balance. “At the store all day we listen to records mostly, CDs and tapes. At home I use records, CDs and tapes, on the drive I use, you know, the phone Spotify. My kids love records, CDs and tapes. They like Spotify too, they make playlists, it's convenient for that. So it's a good healthy balance,” he said.
As for his thoughts on if people will shift back to physical media, Vagoni said, “I think it's healthy to have both. The benefit of having digital media is being able to preview stuff. When I grew up you had to buy a new record to listen to the whole thing, you couldn't preview it on Spotify or YouTube. It might be my favorite band, but this new record could not be as good as the last one. I bought a lot of records that I wish I hadn't and if I could’ve saved that 15 to 20 dollars I would have.”
Though physical media has taken a backseat in recent years, record shops like Record Surplus and Amoeba Music have kept it from disappearing completely. But it is difficult to claim it is back in full swing, because of the convenience of apps like Spotify and Apple Music. Both forms of media continue to have their benefits; one is convenient and the other gives you something to collect. The use of both digital and physical is still popular today.
“They can go on thinking that way those people can remain in the dark. Physical media is something to hold on to, and it's also something to pass on. Take good care of your physical media and it's going to last for a long time. Physical media is alive and well within our shop, within our community, within Los Angeles, within the whole state of California, within the whole United States, it's alive in every country out there. Except maybe Antarctica. But I bet you there's a bit of physical media there too,” said Vagoni.