Vinyl records surge during pandemic, keeping sales spinning

Record albums and compact discs account together account for about $1.1 billion in annual sales, a far cry from the $10 billion spent on streaming services like Spotify, according to RIAA.

Nonetheless, new record stores are opening up.

In California, Michael Miller and a friend who have a collection of 5,000 to 6,000 albums apiece decided to open a store in February during the pandemic in Twentynine Palms, not far from Joshua Tree National Park, which has a thriving art and music scene.

“My wife says you want to open a store right now, in the desert? I say sure, why not?” Miller said. Sales are beating expectations, he said.

Like many indie record stores, Miller’s White Label Vinyl provides a place for people to get together, talk about music, and to check out the latest new and used records, and other merch.

Some people shop for new albums, which cost upward of $30 apiece. Others are more interested in classic records.

John Nyboer, a professional photographer in Los Angeles, said he prefers to shop vintage stores for quirky tunes for his 2,000-record collection. Lately, he’s exploring old records from Mexico and South America.

“It’s a really fun way to expose myself to music, to learn about the history, to play amateur historian,” he said.