Why is there a resurgent interest in LPs?

This question comes up a lot. It is usually referring to the youth market, but I think the reasons we list below apply to people of all ages, and specifically to people who are not audiophiles. At least not self-described as audiophiles.

One reason is peer-pressure. Social network-induced coolness factor.

An important reason. Probably the major reason. But this Oreo-cookie of a Vinyl Renaissance has a healthy chewy center.

1. Everyone knows that CDs cost pennies to make. So when people see $20 price tags on a music CD they experience a cognitive price disconnect. Similarly, when they see that music CDs cost as much as movie DVDs, which have much more content and generate perhaps 100X the viewership – another unpleasant price shock pains the brain.

LPs do not have this problem. We just can’t make our own LPs on our PCs [or 3D printers yet]. This is perceived as some kind of added value.

A. Corollary – LPs are also cheaper [except new audiophile-grade LPs. Whew!]. From about 50 cents [used] to 10 bucks [new jazz, used rock].

2. Everyone ‘knows’ that all digital playback sounds the same. It’s just bits, right? The range is pretty much a $50 blu-ray player at Wall-mart to a $300 Oppo or full-featured Sony at Amazon. The ultimate consumer electronics commodity.

But turntables? They are not seen as a commodity. Although most sound alike [much more so than digital, and at all price ranges] nobody has been beating them [or audiophiles either] over the head with this message; certainly not for decades and decades. A $1000 turntable is something special.

3. Free music downloads and subscription services like Spotify and Pandora make digital music seem ubiquitous and ‘corporate’. Digital music is a utility. No one is going to turn off their music stream, but it doesn’t feel ‘special’ anymore to lots of people who have lived with it for almost a decade now.

Analog however does not seem tied to a specific corporate entity. It is a little bit counter-culture-ish and unique, a little bit independent, a little bit ‘off the internet grid’.

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You notice I did not say it is being adopted because it sounds better.

The reason many people cannot hear the difference between cables is because their systems are not resolving enough [a pox on the manufacturers who sell $20K+ systems like this].

I do not know how resolving a system has to be for the average person to be able to hear a difference between analog and digital. I think musicality is a benefit of analog but not the driving force behind its adoption.