The Future of Vinyl: Dustin Blocker Breaks Down The Resurgence of Analog in a Digital World

Vinyl’s resurgence signifies sustained growth and a reimagined musical landscape. More than nostalgia, it’s a fusion of art, technology, and market dynamics captivating consumers. In an interview with a seasoned industry expert and Vinyl Records Manufacturing Association President, Dustin Blocker, we explore this revival’s subtleties. Blocker and the VRMA forecast a continued upward trajectory for the vinyl market over the next five years, driven by collectability, new releases, and reissues and enhanced by novel production technologies and the growing youth market.

By 2025, vinyl is projected to hit a 7% annual growth rate, with global sales nearing 120 million and a value of USD 3.9 billion. The growth is propelled by hybrid retail pricing and artists’ inclination towards vinyl, particularly evident in the increasing Gen Z buyer demographic. Blocker notes vinyl’s transformation from an artifact to a sought-after cultural and auditory significance symbol.

The future of vinyl depends on technological advancements, cultural relevance, and expanded consumer engagement. As the industry adapts to meet diverse consumer needs, vinyl records remain emblematic of physical media’s resilience. With Blocker’s expertise and industry innovation, vinyl is set to survive and flourish, signaling a dynamic and promising future.

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Considering the resurgence of vinyl, where do you see the vinyl market heading in the next five years?

As an association group, we see the market trend continuing to mature year over year, with a segmentation between specialized collectability (custom color blends, box sets, unique packaging), new releases and reissues driving the market forward in a big way.

The popularity of catalog titles are also finding a new audience with younger consumers; especially for the 1990’s titles that were not initially released in the vinyl record format. Vinyl is a tangible collector’s item in an ever-increasingly digital world, and this is evident with the younger demographics making up the bulk of the buying audience.

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How do you anticipate new technologies will influence vinyl production and playback?

The new technologies in vinyl production do not come in the pressing of vinyl, but rather in the packing and logistics. As automation technology has improved in other similar industries, vinyl record manufacturers now have more options than ever to expand their traditional hand-assembly procedures into automated ones. A human will still need to do the quality control aspect of vinyl manufacturing. Still, other stages to pack out a full retail-ready unit can be completed with much more automation than what is currently happening in most pressing plants around the globe.

What role will vinyl play in the overall music industry economy by 2028?

Industry projections show a steady growth of up to 9% CAGR ($3.9B USD by 2025), meaning vinyl records will continue to make up approximately +11% of the music industry’s economy. Currently, the United States makes up more than 54% of the total global vinyl sales and that trend shows to continue into 2028 projections.

Vinyl record sales are a great way for artists to monetize their recordings. If the artist pays $10 per record to the manufacturer and sells them for $20 per unit, they will make $1,000 on the sale of 100 albums. In streaming, the artist would need approximately 250,000 streams to make the same profit.

Also, most vinyl record sales from artist websites and merchandise sales at live events are not typically reported, so a large area of the music industry economy involves vinyl records that live outside of standardized reporting.

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In what ways might the demographic of vinyl collectors change in the next few years?

The largest demographic of vinyl collectors is 19-35 years old (44% USA, 44% UK, 51% Germany), and trends point to an even younger audience (16-18 years old) taking over the lion’s share of the market in coming years. Also, the younger generation (15-18 years old) are tied to some of the bigger vinyl hashtag trends within TikTok (#vinylrecords has over 1.7B views, #vinyl has over 8.7B views and #vinylcollection 1.1B views), marking a clear indicator of the worldwide fascination with vinyl within the social space.

What will be the biggest factor in sustaining the vinyl market’s growth?

Mass marketing through the world’s largest artists (i.e. Taylor Swift and her massive push into vinyl for her current and entire back catalog) has significantly increased awareness of the format for the younger generation. To sustain growth, more and more current artists need to continue their efforts to make the format available to their fans in a meaningful and accessible way.

How do you see the relationship between vinyl and high-resolution audio formats developing?

Recording studio reel-to-reel tape is the highest-resolution format. Still, it is not readily available to the public for playback, putting vinyl in the driver’s seat for audiophile consumption. Developing high-end audio equipment and vinyl is ever-growing and intrinsically tied to one another.

There is a lot of buzz about Dolby Atmos and records being mastered for that format specifically. This rise in popularity of hi-resolution audio outside of the typical audiophile community draws more people into vinyl.

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Finally, how do you envision the cultural significance of vinyl records evolving in the next five years?

As general artificial intelligence and other digital technologies continue to flourish, the vinyl record format will continue its popularity within the culture as it is a catalog of the cross-section between art, music and analog that is wholly unique. 

Neither compact disc nor tape can inspire creativity or capture the original intent of the artist in the physical world like the vinyl record. Therefore, the format will continue to evolve as it has been doing since its inception nearly 100 years ago.