Most young people don’t even HAVE ‘ LP records’ besides phones……
But they could be coming back because of a Pop Artist that has a Pro Football boyfriend…..
When Taylor Swift released nine vinyl editions of her album “Folklore” in 2020, Tylor Hammers, a fan in Florida, took notice. But it wasn’t until “Midnights” two years later that he became a true collector, scouring the internet and retail shops for every variation of her albums he could find — spending about $1,000 in the process — and cataloging the technicolor expanse of Swift’s LP output in an online discography.
“I get enjoyment out of being a completionist,” Hammers, 24, said in a recent interview.
He’s not the only one.
Although streaming remains the dominant music format, physical media has been a growing niche where the industry can cater to so-called superfans, who express their dedication to artists by shelling out big bucks for collectible versions of new releases, sometimes in multiple quantities. K-pop acts like BTS pioneered this strategy by putting out an array of elaborate CD packages, often featuring goodies like postcards and photo booklets, which helped the boy band repeatedly go to No. 1.
But nobody does it quite like Swift, or at least at the same scale. Last year she sold 3.5 million LPs in the United States, thanks in part to five pastel-hued variants of “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” a rerecording of her 2014 album, and the popularity of Swift’s entire catalog during her record-breaking Eras Tour.
When Swift’s latest album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” comes out on Friday, it will be available in a portfolio of different versions — on vinyl, CD and even cassette — with bonus tracks and, on certain “deluxe” editions sold through Swift’s website, trinkets like magnets, photo cards and engraved bookmarks. Some items, like a standard CD, go for as little as $13. But last weekend, Swift’s site offered a limited run of autographed LPs for $50, which, according to fans on social media, vanished in 20 minutes.
“Vinyl collecting fits so well into Taylor’s fandom,” Hammers said, “because we’ve always collected Taylor-related things like clothing, general merchandise, CDs and even confetti.”
It is a global phenomenon, driven in part by the far greater revenues that artists can earn from physical products in the age of streaming, when per-click royalties are infinitesimal. Of the 10 most popular albums around the world last year, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, two were by Swift and five were by K-pop acts. Vinyl collecting also spiked during the Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbating supply-chain problems and resulting in monthslong delays, though wait times have since lessened.
Swift, 34, has long understood the role that collectible items can play in building fan connections. A decade ago, when the original “1989” album went on sale, she reposted images of fans displaying the CDs they bought in shops. For “Lover” in 2019, Swift sold four CD editions that came with booklets featuring excerpts from her journal entries…..
top image…For “Midnights,” Swift’s last studio album, a total of 35 physical products, including these six vinyl variants, were sold. Clockwise from top left, mahogany, moonstone blue, blood moon, lavender, jade green and love potion purple.