The owner of a local record and CD store says he’s seen the increased interest in physical media firsthand.
Ian Fraser owns Obsolete Records and he says new people come into his ironically named shop every week.
Fraser says vinyl and CDs offer something digital media can’t.
“With downloading, with streaming, it made everything so easy, but also, as we see with the Spotify fallout where all of a sudden, you can’t stream Neil Young or Joni Mitchell anymore,” he says. “I could just buy a physical copy and literally have that forever. No one is going to take that away from me.”
Fraser says streaming is still king, but many people still want to own physical copies of their favorite album.
Vinyl sales have been growing for over 15 years.
CD sales are up this year for the first time in almost two decades. Shipments in the U.S. rose roughly $32 million to $47 million in 2021.
Fraser says collecting is another big part of the boost in popularity for hard copies, digital music libraries don’t quite scratch that collector’s itch.
He says physical albums also create a much more deliberate, intimate, and grounded experience with the music.
