Record fever swept Russia, and sales of phonograph-related products surged 800%!

Gramophone sales increased sixfold, and related products soared 800%

Data shows that the sales of phonographs on Wildberries' platform in 2020 increased sixfold year-on-year compared to 2019 , and the sales of phonographs in the fourth quarter of last year increased nearly 2.5 times compared to the previous quarter.

How did this music medium, which was born in the late 19th century, win the hearts of consumers?

In 1877 , Edison invented the phonograph, an electric device for playing recorded music. In 1888, Emile Polynesia invented the record, which was subsequently improved by Edison and others.

2020 is the year of retro , whether in fashion or music, we can see or hear many retro elements. Under the epidemic prevention and control measures, Russians spend more time at home. In order to kill time, they buy records online and enjoy their own music moments.

Traditional phonographs are mostly made of solid wood, and their classical and exquisite shapes are more like decorations when placed at home. Today's phonographs are smaller but also beautiful, and they also integrate various functions such as vinyl players, CD players, USB players, SD card players, etc.

The more functions a phonograph has, the higher its price will be, so people pay more attention to its maintenance. According to Wildberries data, the sales of phonograph-related products such as record storage boxes, record mats, phonograph pillows and cleaning tools increased by 800% last year , which is enough to show the love Russians have for phonographs.

Another reason for the hot sales of phonographs and related accessories is that modern musicians have also begun to release albums in the retro form of records. And people are no longer limited to releasing or buying ordinary vinyl records. Various colored vinyl records have become the favorites of music fans. Some colored vinyl records can even emit fluorescence in dark environments. This unique record is even more loved and collected by people.

Color vinyl record

Global record market heats up

Wildberries staff said that phonographs and records are popular not only in Russia, but also in other countries.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) 2020 interim report showed that in the first half of last year, U.S. vinyl record sales reached $232.1 million, while CDs were only $129.9 million, the first time they have surpassed CDs since the 1980s.

According to data from the Official Charts Company provided by BPI, a total of 4.8 million vinyl records were sold in the UK in 2020, with sales increasing by nearly 10% year-on-year, marking 13 consecutive years of growth since 2007.

The domestic market has also shown the same trend in recent years . According to the 2020 China Music Industry Development Report, the overall scale of China's music books and audio-visual publishing industry was 1.344 billion yuan in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 0.45%. Among them, the scale of the audio-visual publishing industry dropped to 300 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3%, but the "vinyl +" business continued to heat up.

Under this trend, the performance of online record sales platforms has also grown by leaps and bounds. According to Discogs' year-end report, the platform sold a total of 11.96 million records in 2020, an increase of 40.75% over 2019.

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