However surprising or unsurprising, vinyl records have persisted as a highly popular physical music format in the digital age. In accordance with vinyl’s continued prominence in music sales, a product of younger generations’ fascination with the tangible music type, accustomed to digital files stored on a phone or computer, and duly, the result of older generations’ tendency to collect favorite records in vinyl, Reverb has announced its intent to launch an online platform for buying and selling vinyl records. The Chicago-based company will also host other physical music formats for sale.

Reverb burst into the music market in 2013, allowing musicians to buy and sell a variety of items that range from professional turntables to vintage amps. Reverb’s introduction of a storefront geared towards vinyl seeks to attract basic music listeners, or in other words, a population of non-musicians to the website. Reverb’s CEO, Dan Melnick, reiterated the website’s goal of enticing non-producers to visit the site: “We feel very strongly that Reverb has a brand that identifies with musicians and passionate music fans who might not be musicians themselves. We’re looking for ways those users can interact with us.”

The vinyl branch of Reverb will be called Reverb LP, and can be expected to make its debut later this year. Much like Reverb’s current organization, Reverb sellers may list items on the website for free. Sellers only encounter a fee of 3.5% when the given item is sold.

Reverb LP will launch solely on the web for now, poised to rub elbows with MusicStack and Discogs, the only two existing online platforms that solely specialize in vinyl, cassette tapes, and CDs. Reverb LP will seek to set itself apart from other online marketplaces by offering shoppers a comprehensive customer service team and an image-rich platform. Reverb LP, if successful in its aim, will revamp the current system of physical music sales online.

The venture is anticipated as a profitable one for Reverb—vinyl records are projected to garner approximately $1-billion-dollars in global revenue in 2017, a pattern shattering figure when evaluated in the context of previous years’ sales. Deloitte Global predicts that the market for “new vinyl” will see a “seventh consecutive year of double-digit growth.”

Given Deloitte’s estimations, it seems the “digital age” is about to grow increasingly physical in its musical endeavors.

Via: Chicago Tribune

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Tags: Reverb, vinyl

Categories: News