“Feel, touch, look”: in the United Kingdom, a new golden age for vinyls

It's 8:30 a.m., the queue is lengthening in front of Flashback Records, in the London district of Shoreditch. It's the annual Independent Record Stores Day in the UK and vinyl fans are determined to get involved. get your hands on special reissues or new releases.

The first ones arrived at 4:45 a.m. even though the shop only opens at 9:00 a.m. A craze that testifies to the new golden age of vinyl, sales of which are doing better than ever even though their disappearance seemed assured twenty years ago.

Customers fill out a wish list in front of the Flashback Records vinyl store on April 18, 2024 in London © AFP – BENJAMIN CREMEL

Martin Wolyniec, 45 years old, graying beard and blue eyes, accompanied by his niece Amelia, holds in hand a list distributed by the store, where he has ticked off his wishes: a Groove Armada album, a 'Orbital, Everything but the Girl, “and if we're lucky, Kate Bush.”

A few minutes later he emerges victorious, brandishing a square bag filled with precious pouches. Amelia performs some ecstatic dance moves.

A customer browses vinyls at the Flashback Records store on April 18, 2024 in London © AFP – BENJAMIN CREMEL

Martin and his wife started collecting vinyl six years ago. “Probably because it’s something we can still feel, touch, look at, not something that fits in our phone,” he explains.

Derek Yeboah, a 32-year-old software designer, has been at it since he inherited his brother's collection of old garage and trance records years ago.

– Formatted digital –

He covets some jazz and blues titles. “Everything is digital now. Songs are shortened because of social networks (…), everything must fit in four minutes”, while the vinyl format gives more freedom and space, he assures.

Customers queue in front of the Flashback Records vinyl store on April 18, 2024 in London © AFP – BENJAMIN CREMEL

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Michelle McCracken, a 27-year-old project manager, likes “to see the lyrics, the layout. I also like to support the artists I like” by purchasing the disk object – while many of them don't actually make a living from music streaming sites like Spotify.

This annual day of independent record stores “is very important because it gives us a boost at this time of year” which is a bit sluggish, notes Mark Burgess, founder and boss of Flashback Records, which has three sites in London.

Vinyls in the displays of the Flashback Records store, April 18, 2024 in London © AFP – BENJAMIN CREMEL

Independent record stores are becoming more and more numerous in the United Kingdom, with currently 461 stores – 122 more than in 1994 -, driven largely by the vinyl renaissance. And this, despite the high price of a new LP (20, 30, 40 pounds…), in the midst of a cost of living crisis.

The Sales of vinyl albums rose almost 18% to 177.3 million pounds last year, while CDs recorded a modest initial rebound for the first time in almost two decades, according to the ERA, an association sectoral.

A customer listens to a vinyl from the Flashback Records store, April 18, 2024 in London © AFP – BENJAMIN CREMEL

However, most music is consumed in digital format and only 8% in “physical” format, vinyl or CD, depending on the organization.

Given the place taken up by vinyl records in the United Kingdom on the music market, the very serious National Statistics Office has decided to put them back in the basket of goods used to calculate inflation.

“Almost all albums issued by a big label are released in vinyl format. But it's expensive” to produce, particularly when the cost of oil is soaring like in recent years, which explains their high price, notes Mark Burgess.

Vinyls in the Flashback Records store, April 18, 2024 in London © AFP – BENJAMIN CREMEL

In the tourist district of Soho, in front of the iconic Sister Ray record store, an eclectic crowd of people of varying ages and looks queue up around the block.

Zoe Farace, 25 years old and who works in human resources, says she fell into vinyls when she was little, inheriting the passion from her father who owns “too many to count”.

For her, buying it, listening to it, “it's a way to spend quality time with my father”, who stands next to her and watches her smiling. “That way we can talk about things we both like,” Zoe concludes.

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