Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" — the biggest album release in music history — sold 1.6 million vinyl copies in the U.S. last year, representing over 3% of all units sold, per industry data firm Luminate.

Why it matters: Swift helped as U.S. vinyl sales rose for the 19th straight year in 2025.

• Sales climbed 9% to nearly 48 million units, according to Luminate's Year-End Music Report.

Reality check: The year's next top-selling vinyl albums, Sabrina Carpenter's "Man's Best Friend" (292,000 units) and Kendrick Lamar's "GNX" (279,000 units), weren't even close to Swift's tally.

State of play: As vinyl becomes more mainstream, helped by younger listeners leaning into offline activities and physical media, its audience is diversifying, per the report.

• Black, Asian, Hispanic and other nonwhite consumers made up roughly half of all vinyl buyers, up 18 percentage points from the previous year.

Follow the money: Around 2 in 5 vinyl records were sold at indie stores, per the report.

• Millennials posted the biggest increase in vinyl purchases over the past year.

What's next: Record Store Day returns April 18, bringing special releases to indie shops, including titles from Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, Charli XCX, Bruno Mars and the "KPop Demon Hunters" soundtrack.

A music-centered night out doesn't have to mean a concert: Expect more vinyl nights, pop-up choirs and music bingo this year.

Why it matters: Gen Zers and millennials are seeking "uncurated, unfiltered experiences," according to Eventbrite's new trends report.

By the numbers: Nationwide, there were 36% more vinyl night events from August 2024 to July 2025 than the year before, feeding a growing demand for analog music. Attendance jumped 95%.

• "One-day choirs" — temporary singing sessions that don't require auditions — also saw a surge in events (+87%) and turnout (+149%).

The big picture: Polished production is out.

• Nearly 60% of Gen Z and millennial respondents across the U.S. and U.K. say they want events to feel one-of-a-kind, while roughly half say they wish events felt "less curated and more real," Eventbrite's survey finds.
• Around 80% say spontaneity is important at events.

"Soft socializing" is in. Some 60% of respondents say socializing matters, but they don't want it to be the focus of a gathering.

• U.S. music bingo attendance is up 149%, per the report. The twist on classic bingo swaps in songs and artist names, giving people something low-pressure to do while they connect.
• And Japanese-style listening bars, where patrons sip and tune in to curated tracks, are gaining ground over nightclubs, Smithsonian magazine reports.

The bottom line: "Live events are becoming more human, authentic, and alive than ever," according to Eventbrite's report.

Grab your corded headphones: People are snapping up Apple's retired MP3 players for nostalgia and a break from smartphones.

The big picture: For younger generations especially, the comeback is part of a broader return to offline devices and hobbies, driven by digital burnout.

By the numbers: Search interest for the original iPod and the iPod Nano spiked last year — even though Apple discontinued the product line in 2022, according to Google Trends data.

• eBay searches jumped for the iPod Classic (+25%) and iPod Nano (+20%) between January and October 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, per internal data shared with Axios.
• Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

How it works: Older tech tends to be "single-purpose," says Cal Newport, a computer science professor and author of "Digital Minimalism." "All you can do with an iPod, for example, is listen to music."

• Smartphones, by contrast, bundle music, messages, social feeds, news and more, making it "nearly impossible to control your technology use with any consistency," Newport says.

Between the lines: ​​The MP3 revival also taps into so-called "friction-maxxing," as younger people embrace more hands-on experiences over algorithmic ease, says Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at The Harris Poll.

• Think: Manually loading a set number of songs onto an iPod instead of letting a streaming app curate a playlist for you.
• "We're moving away from total, seamless, convenience culture and back to finding meaning in friction," Rodney tells Axios.

The intrigue: Some students are even using iPods to get around phone bans at school, the New York Times reports.

Reality check: Music streaming isn't fading anytime soon.

• U.S. on-demand audio streaming reached 1.4 trillion song streams in 2025, up from 1.3 trillion the year before, according to Luminate, an industry data firm.

The bottom line: What goes around comes back around, click wheel and all.

Need an example of Columbus millennials collecting vinyl?

• Look no further than Tyler and Andrew, who enjoy spinning wax every now and then.

💭 Tyler's thought bubble: My collection leans heavy on classic rock and classical music. Here are three particular favorites.

• From left to right: A Chicago greatest hits collection; a live album from my favorite band, Rush; and the supremely underrated sounds of Traffic.

💭 Andrew's thought bubble: I've been collecting for a bit, and I like to think my records are pretty eclectic, though I lean a little more modern. My three picks:

• From left to right: The Phoenix album I've listened to so often it's starting to skip; a signed copy of a Titus Andronicus album I cherish; a fun holographic reissue of my favorite Green Day album.

📥 Reply to this email bragging about your collections.