April 16 is Record Store Day — a celebration of independent record stores and the culture they represent. In recent years, those stores have ridden a wave ofnewfound popularity due to an increase in vinyl record sales.
Lisa Cretsinger, owner of Cedar City’s Groovacious, the only remaining independent record store in Southern Utah, says there’s still a lot of interest in vinyl among her customers.
“We sell plenty of it,” she says. “I think it’s still a really important format. I think there are new fans to vinyl all the time.”
Pitchfork, the online music magazine, reported in March that vinyl sales in 2015 were actually more profitable for the recording industry than advertising on free music services like Spotify and YouTube.
Vinyl sales have been climbing for a few years now. Last year they rose 32 percent to $416 million, which Pitchfork reports is the highest level since 1988. Despite that success, the revenue from vinyl sales is still lower than the $2.4 billion in revenues from all types of streaming combined, which includes on-demand services like Pandora, Apple Music and Google Play, among others.
Still, with 11.9 million vinyl records sold in 2015 compared to 9.2 million in 2014, the vinyl resurgence is still showing signs of growth — up significantly from 2005 figures, when only about 1 million vinyl records sold nationwide. Forbes reports that 45 percent of these vinyl sales still happen at independent record stores, even though big box retailers like Best Buy, Barnes & Noble and even Target have started offering new and classic albums on vinyl.
While sales of new vinyl is growing, used vinyl sales also remain strong. Cretsinger says her store’s supply of used vinyl is actually starting to run low. She hand-cleans each used record that comes through her store to ensure it will be the best possible quality.
Vintage Music & Pawn in St. George doesn’t sell new vinyl but the store’s collection of used records has grown significantly in recent years, from a single box to more than 2,000 albums in stock. Owner Roy Beard says the collectible nature of original vinyl pressings is part of the allure.
“It’s vintage. It’s the real deal,” he says. “There’s just a mystique about that that the new stuff doesn’t have.”
He only began carrying vinyl because a manager at the store purchased a box of used records back in 2011, about a year after the store opened at 720 E. St. George Blvd.
Initially, Beard questioned his manager’s decision to purchase the box. He didn’t believe there would be enough interest in used vinyl.
Soon, however, Beard says he had to “repent.” Even teenagers were stopping in to purchase classic albums by Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones.
“It’s fun to see young people keeping vintage vinyl alive,” he says. “It’s been a pleasant surprise.”
Beard says rock and pop albums typically sell best. Records by The Beatles and Led Zeppelin are among the strongest sellers. While country releases don’t sell as well, there is interest in classic country artists like Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline.
Ryan Groskreutz, a local musician and promoter, purchases nearly all of his music on vinyl, including all album purchases. He only buys random songs here and there in the digital format.
His collection began on his 12th birthday when his grandmother gave him her collection, which included albums by The Rolling Stones, Kiss and Simon & Garfunkel. That lit the vinyl fire for Groskreutz.
“I really love the idea of having a physical piece of music,” he says. “I love packaging and art and how it becomes part of the music. Even a compact disc doesn’t offer the formats and layouts that vinyl does.”
Groskreutz also says “nothing sounds like vinyl.” Many vinyl listeners say it has the best sound quality available, often calling it a “warm” quality.
Dave Tate, a local musician and music engineer with his own recording studio in Springdale, says vinyl does have a “warm” sound because it actually doesn’t reach the full spectrum of sound and is limited when it comes to bass. But he also recognizes that many people prefer that warmer sound and says whatever pleases your ears is the best way to go.
However, there are other contributing factors that make vinyl attractive to certain music fans. Tate says the experience of listening to vinyl is also part of the allure.
Yet for independent artists without a massive fan base, vinyl is expensive to produce.
“I would love to press some vinyl records myself if there was a demand,” Tate says.
The expense of producing vinyl can even be a limitation for major artists simply because production plants are struggling to keep up with the demand of the resurging industry. Cretsinger says Groovacious has many vinyl titles on backorder because some pressings are selling out.
As a result, record labels have to charge significantly more for vinyl albums than they do for CDs.
“I would like to see the prices come down a little but I understand how expensive it is to put them out,” Cretsinger says.
The popularity of vinyl albums also translates to increased sales of turntables and other components of home music systems. Groovacious began carrying record players a few years ago as the vinyl resurgence began and Cretsinger says she would like to start offering an even better selection, including high-end equipment.
Vintage Music & Pawn also typically has used record players for sale. Beard says they sell quickly, though he often has to educate younger customers about the equipment.
“They have no idea what a really killer system sounds like,” Beard says.
Unfortunately, Southern Utah music fans don’t have any local options to purchase the limited Record Store Day offerings. Many artists and labels offer special editions for Record Store Day that are only sold at independent record stores.
Normally, Groovacious would have a selection but Cretsinger was unable to order any of the Record Store Day merchandise this year because of her late husband’s battle with cancer. Tim Cretsinger, who co-owned Groovacious with his wife, died on March 14.
“I know people will understand,” Cretsinger says.
But Groovacious will be open on Record Store Day for customers who want to celebrate with regular music purchases. Cretsinger says the growth in vinyl has helped Groovacious stay afloat, even as other local independent retailers shut their doors this past decade.
Groskreutz says he plans to stick with the vinyl format even though cassettes are now starting their own resurgence as an “underground” format.
“I liked vinyl before the current trend; I like vinyl now and love that everything is available in the format; and I’ll love it when the trend fades and I have to spend exorbitant sums to find the music I love from some band whose one pressing is out of print until the trend picks up again,” Groskreutz says.
Follow Brian at Facebook.com/PasseyBrian or on Twitter and Instagram, @BrianPassey. Call him at 435-674-6296.
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