I feel like I am mimicking Seth Godin on this post, but I found the following article fascinating.
As I have said for some time now, no reason exists to declare the vinyl records completely extinct; retailer choice and availability have limited sales far more than consumer interest. While the cassettes which first replaced vinyl, and later CDs and MP3 players are obviously superior in terms of portable music, vinyl remains an effective option for home usage. It seems that while consumers may not have been passionate enough to look for vinyl in specialty and independent shops, when the product is in front of them, they have no opposition to purchasing it (thus serving, I believe, as the Lesser Fans in the ‘1000 True Fans model‘).
The fact that corporations and entire industries always express amazement when they realize consumers alone know what consumers want never ceases to amuse me.
But, what do you think? Is vinyl just a passing fad, soon to be relegated to independent shops? Will factors, such as rising transportation costs, make such a format too costly, or will strategies such as the packaging of digital files make the product worthwhile?
June 10, 2008 at 10:32 pm
It’s not a passing fad. It’s evidence of the long tail theory in action. Consumers’ interest – yes, a small proportion of all music listeners, but consumers nonetheless – isn’t going to divert elsewhere overnight. Vinyl enthusiasts will endure; as long as there’s a market, there’s no good reason – from an economic viewpoint – to abandon the format.
June 10, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Aha! Thank you for reminding me of another book that I desperately need to bump to the top of my summer reading list.