Photo: billboard.com
Photo: billboard.com

Billboard recently published an article reporting that “vinyl sales in the U.S. generated more revenue in 2015 than the advertising on YouTube, Spotify combined…” Apparently there were $416 million in vinyl sales and $385 million earned from ads on Soundcloud, Spotify and YouTube. Boosting those numbers is the fact that 32% more vinyl was sold in 2015 since 1988.

Here’s my issue with these numbers: what does it all really mean?

Right off the bat I have to argue that comparing vinyl sales to all advertising on those three platforms is unbalanced. Sure, the numbers inspire a wide-eyed “wow” response. But, the two subjects of the comparison are different. Let’s compare instead the amount of vinyl sold to the number of songs streamed. In fact, it’s that reality that Cary Sherman, the CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) who compiled the numbers, is warning.

Sure, there’s great enthusiasm for vinyl right now. But, like anything, that enthusiasm will calm after some time. DJs might love using vinyl, and people who grew up with vinyl are enjoying its re-emergence. There are, however, huge segments of the population who grew up with digital and prefer it to anything else. Those people will continue to change the landscape of the music industry.

As Sherman points out, “consumption of music is skyrocketing,” but it’s no party for those who create it. Revenues for musicians and producers is tanking. I’d like to know where those millions of dollars in sales revenue – whether for vinyl or ads – is actually going.

In the end, more vinyl is fun and streaming music for cents is great. But, if the industry doesn’t fix its hierarchy then who will be around to create what we love to hear?