The data box: the revival, measured
The vinyl numbers, five years in - The growth: Canadian vinyl sales have grown every year of the streaming era's maturity — years of double-digit growth, a pandemic spike, and recent plateau debates — the format's share of physical revenue now overwhelming (the CD's eclipse complete). - The demographic: the buyers (the 20-40 cohort — the streaming natives buying the object), the gift market (the parents' re-entry — the Christmas LP). - The price: the $30–$45 LP — the new normal — the boutique pricing of the collector economy, the margin argument (the physical profit the streams can't match). - The plants: the pressing-plant capacity (the national shortage — the months-long queues) — the independent plants' rise (the boutique pressers — the craft revival). - The catalog: the back-catalog share (the old records outselling the new — the Rumours economics) — the new-release share (the indie exclusives — the colored-vinyl variants — the object as the product).
Chapter one: what the data says (and doesn't)
The headline: the LP is the physical format — the CD's collapse, the cassette's niche, the vinyl's dominance — and the growth (the five-year run) is driven by the object's value: the large-format art, the ritual (the side-flip — the needle-drop — the listening as event), the ownership (the streaming's rental versus the LP's property). The honest caveats: the plateau (the growth's slowing — the post-pandemic normalization), the abandonment rate (the gifted-but-unplayed cohort), and the environmental cost (the PVC — the shipping — the footprint debate). The revival is real — and complicated.
Chapter two: the Canadian specifics
The national picture: the independent-retail share (the record stores — the Record Store Day economy — the indie retail's resilience), the pressing bottleneck (the Canadian plants — the queue as the indie's tax), and the catalog dynamic (the Canadian classics — the Fully Completely reissues, the Joni economy — the streaming kids buying the parents' records). The Canadian vinyl story is the global story, local — the indies, the plants, the classics.
Chapter three: the verdict
The vinyl revival is the counter-revolution: the analog answer to the digital flood — the object valued, the ritual defended, the ownership reclaimed. The data settles the narrative: the LP is back, the object is valued, and the spreadsheet — for once — tells a story the heart already knew. Drop the needle. The numbers spin with it.
Frequently asked questions
Are vinyl sales still growing in Canada?
They grew every year of the streaming era's maturity, with a pandemic spike and recent plateau debates — the LP is now the dominant physical format.
Who buys vinyl?
The 20–40 cohort (streaming natives buying objects), plus the gift market and the collector economy.
Why is vinyl so expensive?
Boutique pricing ($30–45 LPs), pressing-plant bottlenecks, and the collector-market economics — the physical margin the streams can't match.