I’m not a younger person but I used to collect vinyl and had to quit because the younger crowd got really into it and the ensuing popularity led to prices going nuts. 10 years ago it was crate digging for $1 records and new releases for $10-15 and now it’s crate digging for $5-10 and new releases for $40-60. Fuck that.

That said before I bowed out I saw plenty of artists also release on cassette and cd as well as vinyl. Those formats weren’t as popular as vinyl but still were popular, likely for one of the reasons I originally got into collecting physical media for cheap. The vinyl releases would be $40 but the cd would be $15 and the cassette would be $9.

Of course, you lose the other main reason which is the vinyl often has superior mastering to cd/web sources but I honestly don’t think a lot of the new releases are being listened to anyway. But that starts the whole diatribe about the new generation buying up vinyl to either never listen to it or to spin it on a shitty $40 record player that will wreck the disc over time. And people always looooove hearing about that lmao

The whole thing got really scummy too. The price rises were initially because the popularity caught labels off guard and pressing plants couldn’t keep up, especially during covid. But more have opened since then and they can press crazy amounts. They have just recognized they can gouge fans for $50+ dollars plus shipping for a single disc LP because they got away with it for a brief period. Plus then they quickly learned the hype tricks and now that shit is everywhere. Every album is “limited edition, only 1/3000” except then you look on discogs and there are 4800 registered. And then there’s 20 variants of the album for you to collect, show your support to Taylor or king gizzard and buy them all. It’s like funko pops except music. Don’t forget that there’s a limited run of 1000 signed copies! They’re not actually signed, they come with a little art card that’s signed and it’s probably signed by an intern but whatever, $75 for the album that’s normally $40 because you believe Olivia Rodrigo touched it for 3 seconds.

Totally gross consumerism but that seems to be what zoomers get shoved down their throats at all times. I thought us millennials got it bad because we had like constant product placement and advertising everywhere and boy bands and shit but man, they really fucked the zoomers even worse