TOKYO: The popularity of vinyl records is slowly but surely recovering.

In this digital heyday, the warmth of the sound contained in the analog format is being rediscovered — with young people even among their fans. Changes in the way people enjoy listening to music are beginning to have an impact in relevant industries.

From Bob Dylan and Ry Cooder to the Allman Brothers Band, it is mostly US rock from the 1960s to the 1970s that plays on the large speakers at Quattro Labo, a music bar near Kichijoji Station in western Tokyo. The sound has a depth that is a hallmark of analog vinyl records.

The music cafe and dining bar, which celebrated its first anniversary on Nov 1, was launched by Parco Co., a major operator of fashion retail buildings. The idea was to provide people with a space to enjoy music in a relaxed way. On weekends, the bar becomes crowded with young people.

About 80,000 records are available at the HMV Record Shop, which opened in August last year in Tokyo. Many people purchase vinyl records at the store together with a record player priced at 9,980 yen, or about $80. On Nov 3 — designated records day by the Recording Industry Association of Japan — the shop held a seminar for vinyl beginners on how to use a turntable and how to enjoy listening to record music.

“The sounds [of vinyls] are filled with realism, and the large covers are very artistic, like paintings,” said a 37-year-old woman from Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, who visited the store.

On the same day, 65 records by singer-songwriter Akiko Yano and other artists were put on sale.

Vinyl records were at their peak in the late 1970s, when nearly 200 million were manufactured annually in the country. Their production output sharply declined after the advent of CDs, however, which first came out in 1982 and became the mainstream way of listening to music. Vinyl records were handed a further blow when Apple Inc. began online music-distribution services.

A turning point came in 2012, when the Beatles’ albums were reissued on vinyl records. The beauty of their sound captured people’s attention once again, which led to more great jazz and rock records being reissued in the format.

This year has seen such popular Japanese artists as singer-songwriter Masaharu Fukuyama and idol group AKB48 releasing new songs on vinyl records. The production quantity of vinyls recovered to more than 470,000 by the end of September — already surpassing last year’s annual figure.

Firms are busy trying to catch up with the trend. At Nagaoka Co. in Higashine, Yamagata Prefecture, which manufactures vinyl record styli, monthly output had been hovering below 100,000. Since last year, however, output has recovered to almost 200,000.

Although still far below the 1.2 million units of the company’s heyday in the early 1980s, Masahiro Suzuki, president of the company, is positive: “The demand is constantly rising, so we increased the amount of equipment as well as the number of employees,” he said.

Yomiuri Shimbun

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2015