According to the Recording Industry Association of America, in 2020, U.S. vinyl sales topped CD sales for the first time since 1986.

CNBC reports that this year, sales growth keeps growing. Vinyl sales are up 108% in the first six months of 2021, compared with the same period in 2020.

This sales boom made record stores rare winners during a pandemic-era retail apocalypse. Many music lovers had more disposable income, more time to listen to albums at home and decided to expand their record collections.

Vinyl is here to stay and isn’t disappearing because it offers an experience that hitting play on your smartphone does not. While streaming services still account for 80% of all revenue generated in 2019, you cannot collect something on a streaming service such as Spotify.

Furthermore, there is something about the tangible experience of taking a record out of its sleeve and putting it on the turntable. Plus, with older records, sometimes hearing a bit of that “pop” and “crackle” adds to the unique experience like no other.

Vinyl records albums have become similar to prints or paintings like artwork to display in the home. The album art, the aesthetics of the record itself, the grooves of the vinyl, is something that attracts some collectors.

The popularity of vinyl is causing ripples in the music industry, as the skyrocketing demand is outstripping supply which has been accelerated by the pandemic. Large retail stores like JB-Hi-Fi, Amazon and Target are seeing dollar signs and stepping into the US$1.3 Billion vinyl record industry. They now account for approximately 13% of all sales. But that also means they’re placing orders far larger than independent record stores and vinyl manufacturers are struggling to fill them.

Consequently, customers are dealing with delays on orders, and even the world’s biggest artists are waiting months for their vinyls to hit the shelves. Taylor Swift, for instance, announced the re-release of her album “Red” several months in advance to ensure the vinyl record would be available at the release.

Even as technology evolves the way we listen to music and makes certain forms of tech obsolete, vinyl has the powerful advantage of hipness, nostalgia and culture to keep it alive.