For 2022, several sources have confirmed that vinyl had its strongest year after 15 years of coming back on the market. It’s been such a strong year for growth that in markets like the U.S. and UK, the format outsold the CD for the first time in 30 and 35 years respectively. But why might this be considering streaming has been the defacto medium for the last few years?

There are many reasons why the record has been making such a healthy return to popularity. I can’t speak for everyone, so I’ll go through my reasons for picking up the format as I seriously considered buying music again in 2021.

I had been an avid music buyer since the early 2000’s, buying CD’s then ripping them to my PC so I could listen to my music on my CD player then hi-fi then on the go through my MP3 player and, finally, my iPod. My ritual, by the time I went to university in 2005, was always to listen to the CD first before ripping it to my iPod. Rarely, did I listen to the CD after that since it was on my PC’s hard drive. Even in my first car, a 1999 Nissan Micra, I had burned copies of albums that stayed in the car so I didn’t lose or damage my bought copy. And yet, despite rarely listening to the actual disc, I kept buying CD’s. They were cheap, easy to transport and store and, at the time, allowed me to explore music with decent sound quality but only after tweaking the setups on all my devices.

I continued to buy CD’s right through to 2018 where my final CD was the debut album of Japanese Power Metal band, Lovebites. By that time, I was moving again from Edinburgh to my home city of Glasgow and I realised that the 12 boxes of CD’s I rarely listened to were simply dead weight. I had amassed a collection somewhere between 300 and 500 albums over at least 20 years, yet barely listened to the actual disc the music was contained on. Finally admitting this to myself, I sold all bar a few choice items before the end of the year and missed nothing. I had been using a streaming service and could listen to everything I’d ever owned before right from my mobile phone. On top of that, I can make playlists for various occasions, the biggest being a roadtrip playlist over 36 hours long. If I were to buy each track on that playlist, I’d be a few hundred pounds short so the streaming service offers a relatively low-cost method of listening to music I’m happy to listen to once in a while but perhaps wouldn’t want to own.

Indeed, I enjoy the flexibility streaming provides over CD. In my current car, I retrofitted Android Auto in 2021 with an IDCORE unit so I could not only improve functionality in my vehicle but give the sound system a boost as well since IDCORE are, first and foremost, music experts. And it’s been great not having to mess with my phone to sort out music and podcasts when I can manage it all on the car’s infotainment screen.

It was around that time that I realised my love of owning music hadn’t gone away. I now owned a piece of hardware that seriously enhanced my listening experience whilst travelling, but what about at home?

Unfortunately, streaming at home didn’t see me enjoy music as much. The live scene’s sound had improved over the last few years meaning a distinct reduction in distortion meaning little to no tinnitus after a gig. I had been able to enjoy hearing the individual instruments on stage for some time and wanted that kind of experience at home. With streaming and CD, there’s just too much compression. I don’t care how many alleged ‘lossless’ formats there are, they all cannot match the live experience. But there was one format I’d never tried. Vinyl.

And who better to get me buying music again and, therefore, vinyl but Iron Maiden. One of my favourite bands had announced their post-lockdown album, Senjutsu, and I was really excited. So excited that I had decided to pre-order the red and black marble record. One problem. I had no record player.

Another problem. I didn’t know where to begin with record players since I never grew up with one. My grandparents got rid of theirs before I was born and I remember my parents having a turntable as part of a hifi system but it was barely used. Similarly, a record player I bought for my dad years ago highlighted my lack of knowledge with the medium. It was a 1 by One all-in-one record player. Automatic movement with USB connection. I paid £50 for it new. Absolute crap. The sound was so thin and frail, you’d think you were hearing music being pushed through a tin can. If that was your first vinyl experience, you wouldn’t want to hear it again. No, I needed to do some serious research into what made a record sing, so to speak.

Whilst conducting that research, I kept buying records. I was in a new job earning very good money and so had the disposable income such a hobby required, since I also noted that this hobby would not be cheap when it came to sourcing albums by favourite bands that had either seldom seen a reissue or had never been reissued. So, I kept researching what made a good vinyl setup before giving myself a budget to work with. All the while, I kept amassing a record collection with nothing to use them on.

Since buying my first record in September 2021, it wasn’t until February 2022 that I finally bought my setup. I had also bought 52 records before doing this. You could say it’s a chicken and egg situation. I could have bought the setup first but would then have to buy records to listen to, meanwhile, I’d be cycling through the same records over and over whilst waiting on getting the next record. At least with the way I did it, I had a good selection ready to go. The setup itself consists of a Pro-Ject Primary-E turntable hooked up to a Cambridge Audio AXA35 amp hooked up to Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 speakers. A decent setup for a first-timer.

The question that had been in the back of my head in the run-up to getting the equipment was – “What if it sounded terrible?”. I could just picture myself getting all excited to finally being able to listen to a record only to find it just didn’t sound as expected. That was the worry.

A worry, whilst justified, ended up being erased swiftly and definitively as I thought I’d test the system with two records initially. Not with the first record I bought, but Iron Maiden’s 2006 masterpiece, A Matter of Life and Death. Still, I think, the bands most musically accomplished album, and one I know inside out. It would allow my ear to find any difference between the 2015 remaster put on vinyl versus the CD and streaming versions I’d been listening to since the album came out.

Well…my God! I was blown away. Hairs were raised and I was having the kind of low-grade euphoria found in ASMR. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I didn’t have the volume turned up particularly high but it carried its way through my flat (92sqm) like a knife through butter. My flatmate had to ask me to turn it down. That never happened with digital.

But it’s not a loudness thing. It’s a flow thing. When I have music playing on my PC and move to the kitchen, I hear muffled distortion. The flat itself is in a 19th century building so there’s easily 3ft of stone between rooms alongside insulation and plaster when it was redeveloped into flats. With vinyl, the music just sounds further away. It’s like walking away from a conversation to go make a cup of tea. I can still hear what’s being said when I’m 10-20 metres away. The conversation doesn’t get all warped. That’ was the first difference I noticed.

The second came when I put on Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. I actually found myself sitting just listening to the music as it took me back to the 70’s when it was created, such was the clarity. I could actually see the band in my head record the album as it played. Never before has that happened.

Third thing I noticed came when playing Nightwish’s Imaginaerum. Depth. Heaps of it. The sound is just so immersive, you feel that it’s happening around you rather than being pointed directly at you like with digital compression. Music just pours out the speakers and fills up the room. I can hold a conversation with my flatmate in person or with colleagues over Teams and I can hear everything just fine at the set volume of 30db.

Other things my ear picks up are differences in production. Older records (pre-1990) tend to have much more open sound compared to much of the records made in the 21st Century. This is, in part, down to the the fact that those older records were using analogue recording equipment whilst nowadays it’s almost exclusively digital. Which begs another question – Why listen to modern records at all when they’re recorded digitally?

To answer that much better than I can, I recommend reading this article from Aesthetics for Birds. My takeaway from it is that digital and analog processes occur at some point suring the recording process so, in fact, the manner with which a record was made doesn’t have as much bearing on the listening experience as what the listener chooses to listen to the recording on. Interestingly, the article mentions that the ‘warmth’ associated with vinyl occurs due to the equipment adding additional harmonics or ‘overtones’ that weren’t there during the original recording resulting in the finished product, in many cases, sounding better than the artist/band intended.

That ‘warmth’ is what I referred to as ‘flow’, but I’d also state it’s about projection. Any good actor will tell you there’s a fine line between projecting and shouting. The end result is the same. Their voice fills the room, however, the response from the audience is different. Projection doesn’t irritate the ear and turn off the audience from what the actor is communicating. It encourages engagement and attention. Shouting creates an unpleasant distortion which, in the context of a listening or audio-visual experience, makes the audience uncomfortable. I have found that this effect is more prevalent with digital as the loudness of the recording can be increased.

But why raise the volume when that will only create further distortion? The answer is simple. Most listeners of music are casual/passive participants. Relatively few genuinely care about the music itself and really only want a distraction. Turn up the volume and the bass and you have a distraction. People will do this so they don’t have to pay attention to their commute or the people their with. As a whisky appreciator, there’s an overlap with music. I’m a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society and when I go to appreciate a dram at the rooms on Bath Street in Glasgow, the music is not loud. It’s well projected. You can appreciate the music, the whisky and the company you’re in simultaneously. And this is down to the intention of everyone involved. We are there to appreciate the quality of what’s been produced and the quality of the people we’re with. If we move over to any regular bar or pub, you do not see people sitting having good conversation whilst appreciating a good drink. You see people shouting at each other in a noisy establishment drinking cheap booze sold at high prices with the express purpose of making high profits. The intent of the people who go to these loud places is not to engage with other people on any meaningful level. It’s to get wasted and use that inebriated state as an excuse to behave poorly then refer to that time as ‘good’ because they got heavily intoxicated together and spent a lot of money doing so. The loud music is just a soundtrack to their choices.

A bit of a diversion but, for anyone that reads my articles regularly, it’s par for the course. The point I’m making is that the medium chosen to listen to music all comes down to the type of person. It can simply be down to appreciators and non-appreciators. Non-appreciators will not want to connect with the music in any real way but rather exploit it for their own purposes. An appreciator will make the time and effort to ensure they get as much from the experience as possible. That means spending good money (whatever that means to the individual) on equipment and ensuring it’s placed well enough to maximise the listening enjoyment because, as the article also stated, the equipment itself and its positioning have a major impact on the end result. For me, a record is one-off payment to a lifetime ticket to a specific music event. I can attend whenever I want, but I must attend to make the most of it.

I also want to draw attention to the atmospherics and sub-sonic sounds that are removed in digital formats. This makes the format easier to distribute over the web but, to my ears, reduces the overall experience. Yes, you can tweak settings on the streaming app, mobile device and earphones to get a setup that works well but you can’t completely replace that which was taken out. From my own experience, I don’t get that eerie sense of realism with digital formats that I do with vinyl. How do digital afficionados explain vinyl giving the impression of having the artist there in the room with you? Two of my favourite albums to write to are Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker and David Bowie’s Blackstar. Both albums with a sadly tragic commonality. They were the last albums released shortly before their deaths. I have listened to both albums quite religiously as part of my writing sessions at home on my desktop PC and both haunt me. When I eventually got them both on record, the haunting became real, particularly with Cohen given his style being more reading poetry to music. It felt like he was right behind me, cigarette in hand, just casually speaking to me from beyond the grave. Digital does not do that simply because it’s a lossy format and takes out a lot that of things lower down the frequency range that are actually important to the listening experience. Again, to the casual listener, this doesn’t matter when all you want is loud and bass-ridden music. I go back to my whisky analogy with the process of chill-filtration. This is the process by which distillers will intentionally remove a lot of the fats and oils that give whisky its flavour by bringing the spirit down to below zero then forcing it through a series of fine filters to get rid of those oils. The end result is a product devoid of the flavour it once had. And why do this especially since the spirit spends many years in oak casks? The casual consumer doesn’t understand that a bit of haze at room temperature is fine and just part of the natural process as the oils from the wood warm up and release from the alcohol. But instead of educating the consumer on this, distilleries spend millions getting rid of the flavour that’s taken years to get there. The same goes for music. A band or artist can spend years working on an album only for much of its depth, detail and richness to be removed for the sake of creating a sanitised product that can be fed to the masses that don’t give a damn in the first place. Yes, you can create consistency this way and that’s only important when all you’re interested in is ensuring money comes in.

Not that money isn’t important but musicians are, typically, in the business of making music first and, if they’re good, they can make money from it. Sometimes, if they’re really good and lucky, they can make a lot. We can say the same for any creative endeavour. The creator wants their creation to go out unfiltered, raw and authentic to what their vision intended. Its the industry they work in that applies the filters. Sometimes, for good reason, like keeping the artist on track and not veering too far off to the point that the output is incoherent and sometiems, for bad reasons, like restraining the creator so much that the output is nothing like the intention.

So, we could argue that the vinyl comeback is a product of an increasing number of people who no longer tolerate being spoon-fed sanitised produce. In much the same way that gourmet food and artisanal drinks are increasing in popularity here in the UK, it seems that music is getting the same treatment with people demanding a better experience at home. And they’ll pay for it. We’re here for a short time and people are becoming increasingly aware of that fact, so why waste your money on McDonald’s when you can support a local or national burger place that uses real food and is better for you? Do it less and you enjoy it more.

For me, I want the music, the whole music and nothing but the music. As intended. Bootleg quality or a production that could turn my room into a concert hall. I don’t care. I want my music as it was laid down by the people that made it at that point in time. I never knew that The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash had a piano playing throughout. I never heard it on CD or streaming yet vinyl makes it clear just like it makes clear that Till Lindemann counts himself in on Stein Um Stein from Rammstein’s fourth album, Reise, Reise. These are things that just enhance the whole listening experience because they were present at time of recording.

But that experience comes at a cost and it is higher than digital. My setup is considered a beginners setup but it cost me about £600 all in. For that, you can get a high-end digital setup and have an excellent experience. If your budget won’t go that far, a bit of patience and careful research will let you get a good starter setup for less than half what I paid new. What this tells me is that the potential of vinyl scales much higher than digital. And I think the reason why is quite simple. It’s real. You have a recording of real people using real instruments which has been stored in real time then printed on to a real item and is then fed back using real items especially if you use an analogue amplifier. It is not a reconstruction or interpretation of what happened in the recording studio. It’s just the music with a bit of cleaning up done during mastering.

But it’s not all plain sailing once you get a decent setup. This can get serious with serious money attached to it. If, like me, you are a fan of niche or cult bands, getting a hold of some records can become expensive. The key here is patience and knowing when to act on the impulse to buy. This is a hobby and should remain so. Always set aside a budger realistic to you. If you lack a high level of disposable income, carefully consider whether moving to vinyl is an appropriate move for you. I have spent a few thousand pounds on records because my income allows it, however, had I been earning less, I would have restained myself on just what to buy and when because my finances dictate what I get to do, how often and to what extent. Currently, I’m looking for another job as my previous contract ended much earlier than expected, so I won’t be buying new records though I have a few on order that will get to me in good time. Meanwhile, I have plenty to enjoy. However, it does mean I may pick up a few cheaper second-hand records from local record shops.

One common complaint of vinyl is the crackle, pops and knocking you hear. This is simply a lack of understanding. You are dealing with a physical item which has grooves in it. Teeny, tiny little trenches where debris, dirt and dust can get stuck. This will get gathered by the stylus and degrade the sound coming from the record. A lot of people don’t know that, surprisingly. All you have to do is clean the record. I use anti-static fluid that I spray on to a newly purchased record being listened to for the first time. I then use a wide velvet brush to clean the record then a fine bristle brush to clean the velvet one. I do this regardless of whether it’s brand new or just new to me as there’s no guarantee the record will be clean when posted or bought from a shop. Records borrowed from my parents have sat in storage for over 30 years. Many have had to be cleaned 3-5 times per side to stop the stylus jumping and for the true sound to come out. It’s a relatively small amount of effort to ensure a clean sound. Once done, I doubt the record will need cleaned for some months as they are properly stored.

Storage is another complaint. Yes, you have to store them and correctly. I store my records like I store my whisky. In a cool, dark, dry place. Vinyl, like whisky, does not like changes in temperature or moisture. It needs a consistently low temperature and low humidity out of direct sunlight. But, if you have the space, a record collection can be a wonderful thing to look at. Visitors can trawl through your collection and it can let them connect a bit more with you as your music preferences can tell things about you that you may not strictly express. Depending on how open you are, this can be a good or bad thing.

As well as having part of yourself on display, the records themselves now come in particularly attractive finishes. Coloured vinyl, whilst I don’t think it has any impact on the quality of sound, does add a nice aesthetic enhancement. A marble, split-colour, splatter, swirl or solid colour does make for a nice visual especially the splatter and swirl patterns when they’re spinning round.

It’s not that I dislike digital. It has its place, but I think its prevalence in the West is a reflection of our increasing disconnect with each other. We all want to connect again especially after lockdown. Gigs have felt different. People are a bit friendlier and kinder. I think we’ve realised what we’ve missed out on and if vinyl helps us connect better with our world and the people that exist in it, I’m happy to continue participating.