A brief history of the vinyl LP

In June 1948, Columbia Records unveiled the long-playing record: a 12-inch disc spinning at 33⅓ rpm, holding around 20 minutes of music a side on quiet, durable vinyl. Until then, music came on brittle 78s that held barely three minutes. A year later RCA Victor answered with the 7-inch 45, and the two formats settled into roles that lasted for decades – the album and the single.

Stereo LPs arrived in 1958, and the '60s and '70s became vinyl's golden age. Artists from the Beatles to Joni Mitchell treated the album as an art form, with gatefold covers, lyric sleeves and artwork that collectors still prize. In the disco era the 12-inch single gave DJs longer mixes and louder grooves.

Then came cassettes and, in 1982, the compact disc. By the early 1990s most major labels had all but stopped pressing vinyl.

But vinyl never disappeared. DJs, collectors and audiophiles kept it alive, and a new generation discovered the warmth of analog sound and the pleasure of real cover art. Record Store Day began in 2008, sales have grown for nearly two decades since, and new vinyl now outsells CDs in the U.S. (source: RIAA). Original pressings from the classic era – the records we specialize in – are more sought after than ever.

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