Group to Present on Growth of Vinyl Records

So take those old records off the shelf. And while you’re at it, buy some more and dust off that record player.

Vinyl records are making a big comeback, and today, Dustin Blocker, president of Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association's (VRMA), will be discussing that growth at 2-2:50 p.m. in Room 314A in a talk titled, “The State of the Vinyl Record Industry.” You can attend with Expo Pass, Expo Plus or Expo Premier registration credentials.

The VRMA says vinyl record sales are booming. In 2023, sales grew at 10.3% year-over-year growth rate to $1.35 billion in revenue — an increase from $1.22 billion in 2022, as units sold jumped to 43.2 million from 40.5 million. In more recent news, Taylor Swift's album The Tortured Poets Department set a record for vinyl record sales selling 859,000 LPs in one week.

In his presentation, Blocker will discuss the impetus for starting the VRMA, part of which is to work collectively as an industry to sustain a high level of quality among this kind of growth, along with new technology and a major focus on sustainability.

Blocker is the chief creative officer of Texas-based independent record label Hand Drawn Records, which he co-founded in 2011.  In December 2019, Blocker and several other leaders throughout the vinyl record supply chain, launched the Tennessee-based VRMA, whose membership includes vinyl record pressing plants, PVC compounders, cutting engineers, recording studios, printers and record labels. Blocker has been association president since 2022.