BUFFALO, N.Y. — While you may have a box or two of vinyl records in the attic or basement, it has turned into quite the business in recent years.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America, there were $1.2 billion in vinyl record sales in 2022. That figure represented 7.4% of all music sales that year. For the first time since 1988, vinyl sales broke 5% of total music sales and also outsold both CD and digital download formats.
"To the people that enjoy owning the art that they love, in physical form, this is where it's at," said Phil Machemer, owner of Revolver Records. "There's no better way to to have music, and there's no better way to listen to music, and I think that's becoming more apparent."
Machemer and his staff are getting the four Revolver Records locations ready for the annual Record Store Day.
"Record Store Day is a essentially a holiday for indie record shops like ours," Machemer said. "There are hundreds of new releases that come out on that day, and they're only available in indie record stores."
Record Store Day was first held in 2008, and it has grown to over 1,400 stores worldwide.
Buffalo music hall of fame artist George Puleo is participating in his first RSD since opening his Kenmore shop, Apples and Oranges Records & Tapes, last year.
"It's very exciting, I'm very excited," Puleo said.
Over 300 new vinyl records are being released on Record Store Day, everything from new Taylor Swift records, and Grateful Dead box sets to a limited release of Macho Man Randy Savage's underground rap album "Be A Man."
"The stuff is limited edition, and likely, in some most most cases that will never be pressed again in the exact way that it was released on this day," Machemer said.
Both Machemer and Puleo agree that the revival of vinyl is not a surprise.
"It's definitely more about the album, as opposed to the song like digital listening is more track based and playlists, which is awesome," Machemer said. "It's the experience of the whole album, you want to own the albums that you love."
"There's other ways to listen to music, it never really mattered to me," Puleo said. "I always wanted to play the record, because the order that the songs are in that's the way the artist wants you to hear the music, they put them in that order for a reason."
Here are the local record stores participating in Record Store Day, according to the official website for the event:
- Apples & Oranges, Records & Tapes - Kenmore
- Out There Records - Buffalo
- Revolver Records, Inc. (Hertel Avenue) - Buffalo
- Black Dots - Buffalo, New York
- Revolver Records, Inc (Elmwood Ave) - Buffalo
- Hi Fi Hits - Buffalo
- Cool Beat Music And Books - Cheektowaga
- Music Matters Record Store - Niagara Falls
- Revolver Records, Inc (Williamsville) - Williamsville
- Daredevil Records - Niagara Falls
- Rick’s Record Shack - Hamburg
- Ross Records - Hamburg
- Rhythm And Grooves Record Store - Fredonia
- Music Alley - Wellsville