The question of the week for my presentation was “how does
media convergence influence new media markets?” I chose to do my case study
over the revival of vinyl records in popular culture and the effects of this
trend on the heavily digital music industry. In 2015, Vinyl Record sales
reached a 28 year high, accounting for over $400 million in sales (Morris,
2016). This is more of the market share than popular ad-supported streaming
services like youtube, vevo, and other free internet radio sites (Morris, 2016).
The beginning of this phenomenon could
be attributed to Record Store Day, a marketing scheme started in 2008 by a
small group of independent record stores to bring some interest to their
nostalgic niche of the market (Sax, 2016). Since 2008, vinyl sales have enjoyed
considerable growth year after year, some years as much as 30% annual growth
(Morris, 2016). In fact, the movement grew so quickly that the outdated
production methods for this once obsolete media were unable to keep up with
demand. Up to 90% of the raw materials used to make these records all came from
one source in 2015 (Barron, 2016). Producers faced up to 6 month delays in
having their records pressed due to a severe shortage of pressing facilities
(Sax, 2016). This is where the media convergence began to affect current
markets.
According to an article in the New Yorker, in 2016 two new
record pressing machines were introduced to the market, both modern upgrades to
the outdated record presses of the 70s (Sax, 2016). The article has this to say
about the more advanced of the two machines, Toronto-based company Viryl’s Warm
Tone: “The Warm Tone is outfitted with dozens of computerized sensors, which
monitor everything from heat and humidity to the specific blend of PVC being
used, and allow the pressing process to be calibrated in response to
conditions. The best vintage presses can produce a record every thirty to forty
seconds; the Warm Tone promises to do so in twenty-five seconds, a significant
advantage for a plant that presses tens of thousands of records a day. Viryl
also says that the machine’s defect rate is only one per cent” (Sax, 2016).
This is a clear example of the convergence of this outdated media on the
current new media markets which had all but forgotten the vinyl medium.
Another example can be seen in an article from Adweek
magazine, which focuses on how new media brands are capitalizing on this analog
medium. The article says, “Figuring out how to create a differentiated product
for consumers in a sea of streaming music platforms like Spotify and Apple
Music or iTunes has been a point of concentration for everyone associated with
vinyl, even labels like Interscope Records, which has built its vinyl marketing
efforts aggressively over the last two years, according to Gary Kelly, head of
digital and revenue at Interscope. "Streaming and downloads are almost
like a commodity to a degree, where everything is the same," says Kelly.
"People are searching for that premium experience where they can show they
are a superfan, and they can have that artwork sitting in their record
collection or dorm room. We're in the digital age, but here we are going back
to analog in some respects’” (Monllos, 2016). Kelly even went so far as to say
that vinyl marketing has “really become a fundamental part of how we do
business” (Monllos, 2016.)
Dela Cerna of Erika Records notes that the rise of vinyl
media hasn’t created competition for the digital media industry, despite its rise
in popularity. "We don't see it as the digital world versus the analog
world—we see the two working well together to keep music alive," she said
(Monllos, 2016). The article in Adweek even conjectures “that digital and
analog work in harmony is key” to the success of vinyl media (Monllos, 2016).
To prove that digital media has not suffered from this
phenomenon, it is worth noting that streaming services have grown 57% over the
past year, and now account for 47% of revenues (Friedlander, 2016).
Subscription streaming service revenues exceed $1 billion now, and account for
30% of total market revenue (Friedlander, 2016). Permanent downloads have
dropped 31% though, a sign that the newest in media technology is pushing the
old into obsolescence, even if they are digital (Friedlander, 2016).
In conclusion, the resurgence of vinyl records is a return
to analog media in a digital age, and an example of cultural determinism. Despite
the constant evolution of media technology, this once obsolete media has made a
strong recovery, which counters the idea of technological determinism. However,
it has not and will not take over the industry. Digital music continues to grow
and evolve, despite the return of vinyl, a fact that supports the ideas of
technological determinism. According to an iHeartMedia executive, vinyl “will
never take over again as the mainstream platform but it might just find its
place as an alternative for people who both want high quality and want to
experience music on the format it was originally created on” (Monllos, 2016). I
agree fully with this statement, and will conclude with exactly that idea. The
vinyl media phenomenon is not one of revolutionary dominance or a
countercultural rejection of new media, simply a nostalgic supplement to the
sometimes impersonal, intangible music of the digital age.
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