Vinyl Cosplay [ENG]

The vinyl market keeps growing. For the first time since 1983, it has surpassed one billion dollars in revenue in the United States. Even better: sales grew by +9% in 2025 compared to 2024. This marks the nineteenth consecutive year of growth for the format. France is following the same trend (+15% growth, with total revenue exceeding 113 million euros). Yet just a few weeks after Record Store Day 2026, which once again drew long queues and generated plenty of buzz, many independent record stores continue to struggle or close their doors. In short, vinyl is bouncing back on paper, but behind the industry’s euphoria and the “vinyl cosplay” trend lies a more nuanced and worrying reality. Why are record stores closing while vinyl recorfds sales are rising?

Inflated vinyl disc figures driven by a few blockbusters

These excellent numbers mainly reflect the success of certain pop stars. It’s not the format that’s popular, but the artists who use it as merch.

The US top 10 is very telling in this regard. Alongside a few classics like Rumours by Fleetwood Mac or Thriller by Michael Jackson, the market is largely carried by Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, and Kendrick Lamar, who dominate the top spots. Even among the elite, Taylor Swift is untouchable, selling five and a half times more than Sabrina Carpenter!

In France, the situation is a bit more balanced, with French and francophone artists like Damso (hip hop), Helena (variété), or classics from Louise Attaque (think of French Violent Femmes) making an appearance.

Reasons for concern

The strong overall figures mask a more complex reality. Sure, the market as a whole is doing well, but there are genuine reasons to question the future of the format — or at least a certain vision of it.

Record stores are struggling. In France, Spain, and elsewhere, we’re seeing more closures and difficulties than new openings. Without rehashing the whole history, here are some recent examples: the closure of Discos Revolver and Silence de la Rue in 2025, joining many others (Plus de Bruit, Rhizome, etc.). We should also mention the difficulties faced by Balades Sonores, one of Paris’s best-known independent record shops.

Don’t assume the situation is necessarily better in the UK or the United States. There too, historic independent record stores are struggling and closing their doors.

On the British side, the venerable Fives Records in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, a true institution that had been trading for nearly 50 years, closed shortly after Record Store Day 2025. And it was far from the only one to throw in the towel. Just a few weeks earlier, we learned of the closure of Drift Records in Totnes, Devon, a much-loved local landmark. Even London, the capital, has not been spared: 101 Records and Zen Records have joined Rhythm Records on the long list of vanished record shops.

In the United States, while the trend is slightly harder to quantify, it is equally real. The iconic chain Sam Goody has finally bowed out, as did the legendary Record Revolution in Ohio back in 2022.

Independent labels are also in trouble. The shutdown of operations like Le Turc Mécanique (in 2024) or Trouble In Mind (in 2025) are not isolated incidents but symptoms of sluggish sales for indie releases.

Without rewriting my recent article (The Rust Age of Vinyl), the rising prices of records (new vinyl records have become too expensive) have largely pushed away some of the format’s historical supporters. Today, sales are largely driven by big chains and pre-orders directly on artists’ websites, further isolating independent record stores. A few of the many annoying trends of 2026.

Towards vinyl cosplay?

First, let’s get one criticism out of the way: it’s great that younger generations are getting into vinyl records and that the format still has such appeal. Vinyl record brings us all together around a shared passion, across generations.

That said, we can’t ignore the elephant in the room: many people buy vinyl records but don’t actually listen to them. In 2023, the research firm Luminate estimated that 50% of people who had bought a LP in the previous twelve months didn’t even own a turntable.

As a result, market players have no incentive to care about pressing quality (recurring quality control issues that still haven’t been resolved in 2026) or even about pricing. Vinyl record is no longer a record to listen to — it has become a merch item to support an artist.

Insidiously, vinyl disc is turning into a decorative object, a symbol of belonging, rather than a concrete way to listen to and discover music. I personally find that a shame, because what interests me most about the format is the element of surprise and discovery.

Is cosplay one of the ills of our time?

This tendency to engage with an object or lifestyle in a superficial way feels very characteristic of our era. Of course, cultural movements (punks, mods, northern soul, goths, etc.) have always been co-opted and stripped of their original meaning. But with social media, this “cosplay” aspect has reached a whole new level.

Whether it’s tradwife influencers in the US or the “gaulois banquets” organized by business school students in France (complete with the mustache and wild boar/pork), people mimic a heritage without fully committing to it. The same is happening with the vinyl hobby now: it has become more of a social media prop than a genuine lifestyle that involves visiting your local record store in search of that thrill of discovery.

This isn’t about gatekeeping. It’s just nice when people try to engage with something in a deeper way. If vinyl has survived for decades, it’s also thanks to passionate people — labels, DJs, bands, and customers — for whom it all meant something. It would be good if those people weren’t erased from the picture.

It’s true that our era doesn’t favor this slower approach: everything is frantic and quickly forgotten. In any case, I’d really like vinyl record to remain a cornerstone of the art of living that I try to defend here. A pious wish? I’m sure it’s not!