Vinyl Revival
Publications, Articles Andrew Mall Publications, Articles Andrew Mall

Vinyl Revival

Journal of Popular Music Studies (2021). At the turn of the twenty-first century, vinyl records had remained a steady if unsubstantial component of recorded music revenue in the United States. But sales of physical media started declining steadily in 2001 in a seemingly unstoppable slide the RIAA attributed to digital piracy. Then a funny thing happened: although CD sales continued to shrink, by the end of the decade vinyl record sales had started growing, reaching $88.9 million in 2010—a revenue level not seen in two decades. In this article I trace these trajectories in more detail, considering how the trajectory of vinyl record sales in the twenty-first century both confirm and frustrate concepts of revival.

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“Never Mind What’s Been Selling, It’s What You’re Buying”: Capital Exchange in Buying, Collecting, and Selling Vinyl Records
Conferences, Presentations Andrew Mall Conferences, Presentations Andrew Mall

“Never Mind What’s Been Selling, It’s What You’re Buying”: Capital Exchange in Buying, Collecting, and Selling Vinyl Records

IASPM-US conference presentation (2009). Who holds the upper hand at record fairs? The dealers sell the commodities, yes, but the collectors decide what to buy, from whom, and (often, via bargaining) for what price. While dealers frequently self-identify as collectors, interactions between dealers and collectors necessarily rely upon the commodity status of music recordings and their role in the exchange of economic, cultural, and social capital. Through ethnographic research at Chicago-area record fairs, I explore the tensions between record dealers and record collectors, and investigate the ways in which capital and exchange contribute to musical meaning.

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“I Heard You Have a Compilation of Every Good Song Ever Done by Anybody”: Subjectivity, Exchange, and Interaction at Record Fairs
Conferences, Presentations Andrew Mall Conferences, Presentations Andrew Mall

“I Heard You Have a Compilation of Every Good Song Ever Done by Anybody”: Subjectivity, Exchange, and Interaction at Record Fairs

MIDSEM conference presentation (2009). Record fairs are regular events where dealers rent tables from the organizers to sell vinyl records, CDs, and music memorabilia to the general public. Through ethnographic research at Chicago-area record fairs and interview data, I examine the different expectations—both of record dealers and collectors—that can help us examine the subjective, one-to-one economic interactions that make up the lived experiences of the record fair event.

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Steady Diet of Nothing: Affinities, Sacrifices, and Change at Record Fairs
Conferences, Presentations Andrew Mall Conferences, Presentations Andrew Mall

Steady Diet of Nothing: Affinities, Sacrifices, and Change at Record Fairs

SEM conference presentation (2006). Building on Will Straw’s confluence of cosmopolitanism (“attentiveness to change occurring elsewhere”) and connoisseurship in his study of communities within popular music, this paper explores issues of everyday practice and changing identity through an ethnography of record dealers—individuals who act both as mediators and audience members within popular music exchange—using record fair events as the primary public cultural space.

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