Vinyl records are here to stay

The continued popularity of vinyl records shows it’s “no fad”, according to a vinyl collector and buyer at New Zealand's biggest independent record store.

Assistant buyer at Real Groovy in Auckland and long-time vinyl collector Tom Shaw says the vinyl revival is here to stay.

“Vinyl has been growing in popularity for over a decade now. If this was a fad it would’ve died out by now.”

The vinyl renaissance has seen record companies display renewed interest in printing current and classic albums on the format, says Shaw.

“People are able to buy their favourite artists on vinyl, but also find new music they might not have heard of.”

Shaw says it’s the ability to handle and touch a physical product that has encouraged the resurgence of vinyl, as well as the thrill of the hunt.

“The dig and hunt of vinyl records is one of the enjoyable things about vinyl,” he says.

“[And] when you buy a record you own the music, no one can take that from you, with streaming services you don’t own the music and it can be taken from you.”

Auckland vinyl collector Patrick Stewart also feels its comeback is in part due to the physical nature of the format.

“Vinyl records are popular as you can feel them, hold them, look at the artwork and lyric books, it’s a physical format.”

The annual Record Store Day last month was a testament to the popularity and increased interest in vinyl records, with Real Groovy being busier than in previous years.

“It was the biggest record store day we’ve had; it was the biggest in terms of limited titles, but also variety of records we had available.”

Stewart says all the stores he went to were busier than normal.

“I went to four stores in Auckland all were a lot busier than normal, it’s good to see people excited for vinyl records.”

A long-time fan of the platform, Shaw is excited for the future of vinyl.

“Long may the vinyl revival continue.”