NEWSLETTERS
Retro Strikes a Chord

Retail Trends
Vinyl and audiocassette sales are increasing by double digits

- Sixty-six percent of today’s vinyl sales are of albums that are 3+ years old featuring classic bands like The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and Pink Floyd
- Cassettes saw popularity in newer releases – 47% of sales were for albums less than 3 years old
- Last year, cassette pressings for high-profile releases like Taylor Swift’s Reputation, Jay-Z’s 4:44, Lana Del Rey’s Lust For Life, and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy soundtracks sold well at retailers like Urban Outfitters, which also offers cassette players and recorders with USB adaptability
What better way to re-create the “real” music sound of the past than with an authentic retro-style Boombox?
“Analog sound has warmth, presence and sounds real” – Steve Stepp, National Audio Company
Indie music stores are trending
- “Record Store Day” April 13th is a cultural experience
- Limited-release records and audiocassettes
- “Records Experience Events” at record stores are a global phenomenon.
Record Store Day was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding nearly 1400 independently-owned record stores in the U.S. and thousands of similar stores internationally. The first Record Store Day took place on April 19, 2008. Today there are Record Store Day participating stores on every continent except Antarctica.
Consumer Trends
Nostalgic for older generations, a novelty for younger generations, the Boombox is booming back in popularity in 2019!
- Showing off rare or unique items defines luxury for Millennials, hence the popularity of retro clothes, Polaroid photos, and decades-old music, vinyl records and audiocassette listening formats
- Older generations want to “hear the sounds of cassettes once again”
- Younger generations want to “experience radio-cassette recorders for the first time”
- Consumer demand for recorded music and videos is largely influenced by trends in personal disposable income. Per-capita disposable income is expected to increase in 2019, representing a potential opportunity for the industry
- Rises in income levels fuels the ability to purchase a wider range of recorded music items
- Income growth also increases consumers’ propensity to gift recorded music to family and friends
Product Highlights



Data Sources
IBISWorld
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