Survival of the Vinyl Revival: A study on the contemporary co-existence of vinyl records and streaming services

In this research the resurgence in popularity of the analogue vinyl record, also called the vinyl record, will be compared to the increase in popularity of digital streaming services. In previous academic literature, the nostalgia and tangibility that the vinyl record contains, and streaming services do not, have often been concluded to be a large part of the renewed interest in vinyl records. The co-existence in the market in which both carriers are present, is, however, not researched yet. This research therefore aims to explain in what way the co-existence of analogue vinyl records and digital streaming services are able to co-exist within the same market for recorded music carriers. Using a cross-sectional research design, an online questionnaire was distributed via social media to Dutch vinyl listeners. With a sample size of 225 respondents, results were conducted via descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis and a multivariate analysis of variance. Results indicate that vinyl records and streaming services are indeed present in the same market and act as both imperfect substitutes and complements. As both carriers have the same purpose of playing music but have multiple features which distinguish them from each other and from other carriers, their substitutability is imperfect. The experience attributes that music brings with it is present on both music carriers, whether vinyl or streaming. However, there is a difference in short term and long term pricing of both carriers which vinyl listeners use to overcome the experience attributes in some way. Listening to music via, on the short term, cheaper or even free streaming services is complementary to the decision of purchasing that music on vinyl, the more expensive carrier on the short term. Consumer demand for both carriers is thus growing and they both reinforce each other in growing even further. The vinyl revival was not only noticed by academics, the music industry also jumped aboard and fully commercialised the analogue record in the contemporary digital era. Results indicate that this commercialisation is nearly inescapable in contemporary society since a significant number of respondents are buying the analogue record via online, digital, websites nowadays. The co-existence of the analogue and digital aspects of the music industry keeps increasing in interesting ways