The latest news and features on the analog sound storage medium known as vinyl
June 2024
Coldplay: vinyl copies of new album Moon Music will be made from old plastic bottles
Band say carbon emissions for vinyl production will be reduced by 85% thanks to new method, as they announce 10th studio album
Vinyl came back from the dead – and so did the bootleggers: inside the booming business of knock-off records
As LP sales boom in the UK, so has the illegal trade in poor-quality fakes. But the record detectives are fighting back
Wax Heads, the record-shop video game that channels High Fidelity
Far from a business sim, players act as tastemaker for a litany of lovable oddballs that swing by, using clues to deduce the perfect album recommendation
May 2024
Tom Lehrer’s subversive wit and wisdom are still relevant today
Letters: Readers respond to Francis Beckett’s article on the great American singer-songwriter who gave up celebrity to teach maths
April 2024
Swifties queue up for special letter from singer in boost for UK’s Record Store Day
‘After eight hours, my feet and fingers throb’: my epic treasure hunt for vinyl gold
March 2024
Billie Eilish criticises musicians for releasing multiple vinyl variants: ‘I can’t even express how wasteful it is’
The singer, who is known for her attempts to run her career sustainably, likened the practice to The Hunger Games – playing a game to get fans to keep buying more
Vinyl records return to UK inflation basket for first time since 1992
Strong sales of Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) help format make an impact, as air fryers also join list
Indie record shops boom in number – but supermarkets are deserting music
Data from Digital Entertainment and Retail Association finds there are now 122 more indie record shops compared with 2014
February 2024
Life, unplugged: a no-tech special
‘When you use a Walkman all the memories come back’: the people still in love with old tech
Cassette players and tapes, vintage Game Boys and boomboxes seem like relics of a bygone era. So why are they being snapped up, sometimes for eye-watering prices?
January 2024
Rise in vinyl sales at concerts gives indie artists a vital lifeline
Musicians are finding that selling their records at gigs is no longer an afterthought, but is providing a crucial revenue stream
Taylor Swift’s old apartment to Nirvana’s bathtub: the photo project following in musicians’ footsteps
For his project The Band Was Here, New Yorker Steve Birnbaum obsessively tracks down famous musical locations – but this pop cultural history is under threat
CDs shine as UK music sales in 2023 jump to near record figure
Brief letters
It’s time Auntie BBC took the gloves off
I never thought I’d listen to vinyl records again. Now I am – and I love it
Margaret Sullivan
December 2023
Vinyl is back for good and that’s exciting. Don’t let the greed of big labels ruin it
John Harris
Mainstream music’s take-up of the format has led to soaring demand, driving out indie labels and driving up prices, writes Guardian columnist John Harris
The Observer view on the vinyl revival: LPs are the antidote to a frenetic digital world
Our rediscovered love of the record format reveals a need for ceremony and connection to tangible objects
Taylor Swift and Rolling Stones drive Christmas surge in UK vinyl sales
More than 250,000 vinyl records were sold last week, the most since the turn of the century
November 2023
The best vinyl album covers of 2023
Bed and breakbeat: guests go crate-digging at UK’s only ‘vinyl hotel’
