Is the (jazz guitar) vinyl market down?

[benhatchins]

it feels like that unfortunately... The vinyl market has definitely shifted in recent years. Prices, demand, and availability all feel less predictable now. Still, there’s something timeless about physical media. Conversations like this help separate trends from lasting value. I’ve run into similar order issues help-center.pissedconsumer.com/how-to-resolve-order-issues/ when buying records abroad. Interesting perspective on where things are headed.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

Honestly, yeah, the jazz guitar vinyl market feels softer lately. I’ve seen the same thing — stuff that used to be $10–$20 is now sitting in bins for a dollar or two. Even local shops near me have been marking down older pressings just to move inventory.

I think the sudden availability of decent, inexpensive USB turntables over the last decade stirred a wave of vinyl buying. They plug into a PC or a set of powered speakers with USB input, so you don’t need an analog audio system. It’s a fun and easy way to get into vinyl. But I haven’t seen anybody who bought one convert to vinyl for general listening. They’re more a novelty item than a game changer for the masses.

Vinyl remains a very limited market overall, and this wave of record buying is over. The sub-$200 USB tables aren’t good enough to rip high quality vinyl, so audiophiles and serious music lovers have no use for them. And no one who bought a $150 TT is likely to be playing $50+ discs or precious vintage pressings on it.

It’s true that vinyl grew fast over recent years. But a jump from 1% of music sales (in dollars) to 10% is a 1000% increase that sounds huge but is only a rounding error to streaming and digital download revenues and volumes. Vinyl is now most of the hard media market only because CDs are rapidly joining their older cousins (analog and digital cassettes, minidiscs, etc) in the graveyard.