The return of the vinyl: a love that does not stop spinning (with collectors, fairs and « listening bar »). And now I also like it at the gen z

Hot, enveloping, timeless. The vinyl runs slowly but never goes out of fashion and continues to conquer fans of all ages. The round and authentic sound resists time and proudly challenges it streaming. Vinyl breathes, vibrates, tells. Caresses the soul. It has something special. Each disc has its own ritual. There is a romantic and refined in this historic analog support that today lives a second youth. A renewed passion with growing numbers. That vinyl is going through a new gold season the latest FIMI data, the Italian music industry Federation, according to which 33 and 45 laps remain the physical support from the music enthusiasts increasing by 6.8% to about 39 million euros: it is the sixth consecutive year of growth, positioning Italy as an eighth market at a global level.

The Italian market

«The Italian market is in line with the international trends that for some years now have seen the return of the format – also with reference to current artists, not only to the catalog products of the Legacy artists. For example, the Italian rankings show an ever -growing number of titles also linked to the Urban world « , underlines Enzo Mazza, CEO Della Fimi. « The vinyl showed a surprising growth precisely at the time of the strong rise of streaming, as if in the face of total dematerialisation, the need to have a physical object that testified to the artist would also be joined. This phenomenon in particular has been seen in the younger generations, which are also those where the major superfans are identified. The perspectives are particularly interesting, because it is certainly not a passenger or niche phenomenon: vinyl to date is a very interesting vital segment for the sector. Initially perceived as a phenomenon linked only to nostalgic adults, it has actually become a segment mainstream Even in the Z generation, becoming the central part of the youth culture of these years « .

Vinilmania: Boom of fairs, markets and exhibitions throughout Italy

The rediscovery of the charm of « vintage » sound is highlighted by the increasingly frequent events throughout Italy. From north to south, it is a teeming with events and disc market exhibitions. The « Novegro Vinile Expo », near the hydroscal and Linate airport, for almost thirty years has been the main vinyl fair used, rare and an opportunity available to enthusiasts and collectors in Italy: 140 exhibitors and more than 2,500 visitors, 3 editions per year. In addition to Milan, important vinyl market exhibitions are held in many other Italian cities from Alessandria to Bergamo, from Verona to Rome, Genoa, Turin and Naples. In Bologna, in the central Piazza Lucio Dalla, « Disco » is heldwith 50 exhibitors selected from Italy and Europe with rarity, first prints, limited editions and collectible pieces.

A listening room with 25 thousand discs

And under the « two towers », in February, the Vinyl listening room. On the second floor of the Salaborsa Library, inside the Palazzo Comunale di Bologna, it is the first listening room built in a public place. A space born to promote musical tradition, enhance the record heritage and the time dedicated to listening. With the vinyl protagonist, the room was born thanks to the extraordinary collection of the Santonastaso family, that of the comic duo of Mario and Pippowhich in 2022 generously donated to the community a treasure of about 25 thousand discs between 78, 33 and 45 rpm. Accessible free of charge from Monday to Saturday – but only by reservation – during the opening hours of the library, the room welcomes up to two people at a time, which independently choose the discs to listen to, offering an hour and a half of pure sound exploration. So far it has recorded over 480 reservations with about 350 single users of which 282 (81% of the total) managed to book at least once and 66 users (19%) already returned from 2 to 6 times.

Global passion: in Holland the mega world vinyl fair

Defined « The Largest Vinyl Show On Earth« , Record Planet is held twice a year in Den Bosch, in the Netherlands. This mega disc fair has attracted over 550 exhibitors from all over the world to an area of ​​over 16,000 square meters, equivalent to two football fields in April. In 48 hours, more than 15,000 enthusiasts to rummage among the collections from the USA, South Africa, Japan, Brazil, Brasile, Brazil. Mexico, Australia and every European country, including Italy. About one million records sold. Music lovers share a passion for vinyl. They run in search of the soundtrack of cult film or Spaghetti Western Signed by Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai, or limited prints of progressive rock albums of the seventies, for example groups such as bronze ballet, Osanna or Rosenbach Museum.
« The vinyl records are back in vogue because they offer something that digital formats do not have: a tangible and engaging experience. Vinyl invites you to slow down and concentrate with music. Change during the pandemic. With more time at home, people got closer to music and started listening to it again. This has meant a rediscovery of the old disk collections and, for some, the beginning of a new journey with vinyl, « he says Marie-Elisabeth MatosOwner of Record Planet.

From « Jazz Kissa » to « Listening Bar »

Born in Japan in the last century, i Jazz Kissa They are coffee dedicated to the contemplative listening of jazz music, often equipped with expensive hi-fi systems and large collections of rare records. In these places the silence is sacred, you enter mainly to listen. In recent years, they have led to a real boom in Europe (including Italy) and in the USA, where many listening bars are being born, also known as hi-fi bar. Here, among soft lights, records and cocktails, the pleasure of listening to quality music is rediscovered. From Los Angeles to New York to Miami where Dante’s Hifi+ is there with listening rooms for audiophiles and a collection of about 9,000 vinyls. And precisely this place was inspired by « The Riff », a living room with vintage music in the heart of Reggio Emilia created by Marco « Benny » Benassi, Fabio Volo And other entrepreneurous friends. The restaurant, with a dee-jay selector in the center playing live music, is full of rare vinyls, many from the private collections of the owners themselves.

In London the 45 rpm « do it yourself »

Whether we talk about new tendencies or legends of the past, London remains the center of gravity of global music. Cradle of historical bands and an inexhaustible forge of talents, continues to dictate the rhythm of the European and world scene. But there is more: with iconic shops where new prints of unobtainable records or rarity used, specialized fairs, live performances and a culture of listening in turmoil are found, London is also confirmed as one of the international vinyl capital. In Swinging City – and throughout the United Kingdom – the vinyl remains alive, making sales record (+80% the weekly average). Resists digital and reaffirms like physical support par excellence, an object capable of combining sound quality, vintage charm and collecting value. In reality, London has never known a real decline of the dear, old LP: always appreciated, today the vinyl is exposed as an element of furniture, with its covers transformed into real works of art to be hanging on the walls. And if all the generations are fascinated in the format, it is above all among the youngest – in the band between 18 and 34 years old – that the most marked boom is recorded. Around this renewed passion were also born original initiatives, such as the one launched by Jack White, guitarist and singer of the Rock The White Stripes duo.
At number 1 of Marshall Street, in Soho, in the all -yellow music shop on two floors of his Third Man Records labela tokely recording cabin has been installed where anyone can affect their 2 -minute vinyl. It works like photographic cabins, those of the phototesthetic, only in this happens that any person can entersing, play what he wants and finally print live on a 6 -inch disc, slightly smaller than a 45 rpm, using vintage analog systems.

Analogue rebirth (and the return of turntables)

The boom of 33 and 45 laps is also driving the sales of the turntables. Fans go on new production, with advanced frames and heads (also integrated with Bluetooth connection). But the vintage models that ensure the unique quality of the sound of vinyl are mainly sought after. «Almost half of customers today enters and asks to buy turntables, especially those built in the 70s-80ssomeone even models from the 60s. Direct traction or belt makes no difference. They are iconic brands. The most popular are the Thorens, Lenco, Technics and the historian Garrard – says Alessandro Cinellaowner of a hi -fi systems shop in Varedo, Brianza -. The old compacts, the so -called all in one, who had turntable, cassettes and radio, precisely in order not to miss anything, are also very popular.