Vinyl renaissance in Korea holds steady with diverse music tastes
Jong-Hwan Won
4 HOURS AGO
The 13th Seoul Record Fair on Sept. 21, 2024 Within just two hours of the opening of the 13th Seoul Record Fair last Saturday, the waitlist for new LP records reached 1,500. There were 20 new releases that day.
The vinyl fever at the event dispelled concerns that the pandemic-driven LP renaissance could go bust in the endemic era.
Instead, the boom shows no sign of abating in South Korea. The LP revival has even led people to expand their music tastes into diverse genres and to the revival of the vinyl pressing industry in the country.
According to Korea’s online bookstore operator Yes24 Co., LP production stood at 3,024 albums in 2023, up 14.6% from the prior year.
It was the first time the country’s vinyl production topped 3,000 since Yes24 started compiling the related data three years ago. It was also the fastest yearly gain.
More diverse age groups also showed interest in LP purchases over the year. Those in their 20s and 30s who mainly drove the LP resurgence during the COVID-19 lockdowns accounted for 43% of Yes24’s total record sales in 2023 versus 51% in 2021.
Those in their 40s and 50s, however, made up 47%, up from 42% over the same period.
There are no official statistics about the country’s LP market in Korea so Yes24’s vinyl sales have been used to gauge the country’s LP market.
The 13th Seoul Record Fair (Courtesy of Yonhap) “People don’t consume LP records like a hot trend anymore but the number of records releases targeting vinyl enthusiasts is on the growth track,” said an official from Yes24.
DIVERSE MUSIC TASTES
The Korean LP record market experienced an explosive surge of quarantine buying during the retro wave in 2020. LP releases more than doubled in 2020 from 2019 and have kept the upward streak for three years since then.
In the endemic era, its growth has somewhat slowed but LPs playing more diverse music genres are being pressed.
Vinyl production companies produce albums of not only old pop music popular in the 1970s and 1980s but also recent music ranging from film and TV show soundtracks to video game soundtracks.
Even art galleries and audiobook curators also use vinyl to deliver a unique sound, according to industry observers.
“The LP market is maturing after a surprising resurgence,” said an official in the country’s music album industry.
THE VINYL PRESSING INDUSTRY’S RETURN
LP production process (Courtesy of Machang Music & Pictures) Reflecting the unwavering vinyl boom in Korea, the country’s LP production industry has also advanced in recent years.
Machang Music & Pictures, founded in 2016, has developed vinyl pressing machines with local technologies.
It is the only record production plant in Korea that can take care of the entire LP production process from cutting and stamping to pressing.
The company has inherited vinyl production expertise and know-how from the country’s first-generation LP mastering engineers, said Ha Jong-wook, chief executive officer of Machang Music & Pictures.
“As we have learned, we keep the groove’s depth deep for the sake of an LP’s rich sound,” said Ha, adding that the company has succeeded in lowering LP noise by half from 2017 after finding the optimal sound pressure level and temperature.
Machang Music & Pictures also gets inquiries about its records from other countries mostly Vietnam, Italy, Japan and Mongolia, Ha said, adding that the company is striving to go global as a leading LP production company in Asia.
Write to Jong-Hwan Won at won0403@hankyung.com Sookyung Seo edited this article.