Return of vinyl records in Cyprus and to the preferences of the new generation – Vinyl records are back on the shelves with a bang
For many, recordsvinyl is a retro element and associated with the nostalgia of past decades. In reality, however, this has been changing for at least a decade in Cyprus, which follows the change that took place earlier abroad. Vinyl records have returned strongly to the shelves of record stores and are a reason why teenagers and young people in their 20s and 30s visit them today, even if they are children of the era of digitalization of music.
< p>The dominance of digital discs (CDs) since the mid-90s, but more so the invasion of digital music files soon after, had limited the presence of vinyl records. mostly in the collections of older music lovers or – even worse – in dusty boxes in warehouses and antique shops.
Around 2010-2011, some collectors recognized in the Cypriot market the presence of a public that showed a desire to get to know vinyl records from the beginning. The records were dusted off, taken out of the boxes and began to attract public interest in pop-up record markets. Soon, the first shops specializing in the sale of records appeared, initially mainly used ones.
Some of the first sellers of used vinyl records reported to KYPE that the used record bazaars that were organized regularly, mainly in Nicosia and Limassol, attracted the interest of both older people, who knew the genre and collected old records, as well as younger people. , who discovered them from the beginning and with them an entire musical tradition.
In the intervening decade, the public that resorted to “excavations” in the bazaars, then turned to the record stores that gradually opened in all the cities of Cyprus. At the same time, the music industry internationally began to supply the market with more and more pressings of vinyl records. Thus, in addition to used records, the public began to purchase new releases, of all modern music genres.
“In recent years, sales of new releases, but also of reissues of older albums, have increased significantly” , sellers told KYPE, noting that this increase in sales is also linked to the increase in the number of young people and teenagers who are now buying vinyl records.
In addition, the sellers dealing with this market reported to KYPE that, along with the boom in the record market, there is a corresponding increase in the sales of equipment for their reproduction. Younger generations, who typically grew up in homes without turntables, are now looking for turntables, amplifiers and speakers. For example, a store in Nicosia that has specialized in audio system equipment for 20 years found that sales of equipment increased when it started selling vinyl records on its premises.
The return of the global music industry to vinyl records was accompanied by since the establishment of a World Record Store Day on the third Saturday of April, following an initiative of independent record stores in the USA in 2008, in which vinyl record stores in Cyprus now participate, enjoying a significant response from the music-loving public every year . It seems, therefore, that a trend that may have initially been considered a fad of the moment, may have come to stay on the island for a long time.
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