No longer just for hipsters or your dad, vinyl has been enjoying something of a revival, and sales of records outstripped digital ones for the first time ever at the end of last year.
Streaming TV and music has fast become the norm, but it seems that people are still keen to enjoy a more tangible connection with certain products – namely music, hence why vinyl sales have been on the up.
Speaking to the Retail Gazette, Thorsten Schliesche – executive vice-president of Napster – said: “The popularity of streaming and subscription services such as Napster has meant that people are discovering music more easily than ever before. All music fans, whether it’s an original vinyl listener from the 1970s or a millennial discovering classic rock music for the first time, now have access to a catalogue of music, on demand, that previous generations could only have dreamt of.”
This success may well soon be translated into the gaming sphere as well, with The Future Laboratory’s Maks Fus Mickiewicz telling the news source that it would make sense for the industry to offer a digital subscription service similar to Netflix for various games available on their platforms. This would serve to strengthen their ecosystem and encourage a steadier level of investment in future games and technology.
With the likes of Nintendo recently releasing its miniature replica of the original Nintendo NES (which comes with an impressive 30 classic games built in so no need for a cartridge), it’s highly likely that other brands will follow suit in the gaming sector. Similarly, Sega also recently announced its Mega Drive would be staging a comeback as a mini console, with 80 games built in including Mortal Kombat, Golden Axe and Sonic the Hedgehog. Combine that with best selling book and forthcoming Spielberg film Ready Player One,we predict that this trend will only get bigger and better from here on in!
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