Appetite for 'authentic sound' pumps up demand for vinyl records, Winnipeg shop owners say
'Records ... were 20% of our sales versus CDs. That's completely flipped now': Into the Music owner
For the past 20 years, Mark Cardy has been buying vinyl records seeking the "real, authentic sound" he can't find on CDs or streaming services.
"[With] a lot of this digital stuff, you lose a lot of the soul that's involved with all the music," he said. "I just appreciate how authentic a record can really make you feel."
As a "flower child" son of hippie parents, Cardy grew up watching his relatives collect records.
"Once you start collecting one, it's hard not to collect more," he said. "It makes you feel like something that your parents did and your grandparents did, and it's kind of neat to see how they felt when they did it."
Cardy is also part of a shift that in recent years has reshaped the content at some Winnipeg music stores.
When Into the Music opened its doors in Winnipeg 38 years ago, used records drove the majority of sales, said owner Greg Tonn.
More recently, new recordings started taking up the same space on the shelves. Used records still lead in sales, but new ones are now sold more than before — with vinyl bringing a greater dollar value than it used to.
"Records for a long time were 20 per cent of our sales versus CDs. That's completely flipped now," Tonn said.
"I couldn't have anticipated it.… This is a surprise, I think, to most of us, even those of us who have been lifelong record collectors."
Vinyl sales started to notch up about 15 years ago, but sales volume took off after the pandemic, said Tonn.
Generations who weren't raised with records, including high school and university students, have turned to vinyl in their early adult years.
People who prioritize the sound quality offered by vinyl over the convenience offered by consuming music over streaming platforms are driving that change, said Tonn.
"There's a little bit of a cool factor.… You're part of a club, you're part of a smaller group of people who are showing your passion by collecting the artifact, the album," he said.
Part of the experience comes with listening to an entire album without skipping tracks, something that rarely happens with streaming, according to Tonn.
"Listening to records is kind of like the slow food movement, where you take your time and cook something … versus buying fast food," he said. "There's that sense of relaxing and enjoying yourself."
Ray Giguere, owner of Argy's Records & Entertainment in Winnipeg, says the upward trend in record and CD sales over the last 15 years "came back with a vengeance" after the pandemic.
"Sometimes it's like a retirement home here … [but] sometimes it's a lot of young people, and they're digging through the records," Giguere said.
Holding a physical copy has romanticized the idea of purchasing records, Giguere says, though most people hear a song online before committing to buying the vinyl album.
"With streaming, it all has a purpose, but you don't have you don't own anything," he said.
'Appreciation of music' beyond downloads
Ordering records for new titles and newer artists has become a main part of the business at Into the Music, according to JP Perron, who has been selling records for the last 20 years.
"Record prices, just like everything with inflation, they keep going up and up, but people seem to tend to want something physical to hold on to," he said.
Albums from high-selling artists among younger listeners are also a popular choice at the record store.
"Chappell Roan or Sabrina Carpenter or Kendrick Lamar, they're all up on the wall," Perron said.
John Einarson, a Winnipeg author and music historian, began buying records in the early 1960s, with Twist and Shout by The Beatles among his first. Over the years, he has amassed a collection in the thousands, which he's begun selling at conventions.
But crowds of baby boomers, teens and 20-somethings have also started lining up at his stand, some of them hunting for "obscure titles" he thought only he knew about, he said.
"It's nice to see that there is an appreciation for music beyond just the download," said Einarson.
Buying records used to include reading the liner notes on a cover's back, poring over an album's background and details about the artist, he said.
Now, the "beautiful artwork" of an album cover can be lost when listening to streaming music.
"Music is disposable," he said. "It's just a download of a song and listening to it for a while, [then] download another song."
But with vinyl, there's a connection that has spanned the decades, said Einarson.
"There's a warmth to the sound of vinyl.… You put the needle on that groove on vinyl, and the sound envelops you," he said. "You have to kind of wonder — is it a comeback, or did it never go away?"
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With files from Felisha Adam