(Au is is wiping down vinyl records. Photo by Charlene Yang)
Every afternoon at 2 p.m., in a shabby building in Sham Shui Po, a slight, middle-aged man begins his day by folding up a bed in a pileof cardboard boxes. His name is Paul, Au Tak-sing, but he is better known as “the foster father of vinyl records in Hong Kong”.
In this small space, which can only hold three people at a time, there are nearly 300,000 second-hand vinyl records. “I sleep with records, I eat with records, and I breathe records. This place is both my residence and the store. I stay in it all the time,” Au said.
Vinyl records as a sound and music carrier occupied almost the entire 20th century, until the birth of CD in 1984. Compared with the sharp decline in CD sales in recent years, vinyl records have unexpectedly rebounded.
According to the 2017 U.S. Music Year-end Report, vinyl records experienced sales growth for the 12th consecutive year, with sales of $14.3 million. In 2017, vinyl sales accounted for nine percent of total album sales, two percentage points higher than in 2016.
This phenomenon has brought vinyl records into people’s eyes again, especially some youngsters begin to realize and notice the charm of vinyl records.
“Every record is like a human being and never old-fashioned. Even though there are space shuttles and high-speed trains, people still ride bicycles, because it’s part of their lifestyle.
“Every day I can meet different customers from all over the world, and I am happy that more and more young people in Hong Kong come to buy vinyl here and I feel much younger with them,” Au said.
According to Forbes.com, vinyl records sales are actually much larger than what industry figures report because they don’t count second-hand vinyl sales and they under-count new vinyl sales.
There are about 40 independent record stores in Hong Kong, the vast majority of which are second-hand vinyl record stores. Although most retailers are reluctant to provide their vinyl sales, it can be roughly calculated that if the average price of a record is HK$100, and one store could sell more than ten records a day like Au’s store, then the vinyl sales in Hong Kong should not be underestimated.
Shun Cheong Record Showroom, based on Shun Cheong Record Co., Ltd., is the largest independent music distributor in Hong Kong. It is split between Jazz and Classical reissues on vinyl and CD, demonstrating another aspect of local taste.
The owner of this store is also a vinyl lover. He said that the consumer of vinyl records in his store are enthusiasts. Most of them are 40 years old or above, and some are under 35 years old.
“People in 40s has a kind of ‘vinyl’ complex, and their personal consumption ability is much better than other age groups. But there are still some young people who are interested in vinyl come to buy some records, the number is not as large as the number of people in their 40s,” he said.
Speaking of the sales in the store, the owner said the vinyl sales are much higher than that of CDs, with 70 percent vinyl sales and 30 percent CD sales. Although the sales of vinyl records had bigger growth than before, the sales of CD are still a big part because of the size of the CD buyers. However, regarding the number of individual purchases, vinyl records sell better than CDs.
Compared with buyers who have been in love with vinyl records for years, Wang Zhengyao, a 26-year-old student, began to be fascinated with them last year after hearing the music from a record store.
“Many singers have released vinyl records, and I wonder whether anyone will rebuy a vinyl record when they can listen to music on their mobile phones. So, I bought my first vinyl record sang by Adele Adkins. The sound is awesome,” Wang said.
Listening to digital music and then buying vinyl records seems to be a trend for many youngsters like Wang. What he buys most are second-hand records, and he has been to almost every second-hand vinyl record store in Hong Kong.
“A lot of the original vinyl records are really expensive, even thousands to tens of thousands of yuan. The price of second-hand records is relatively cost-effective, I bought a record last time for only HK$80 in Mong Kok,” he said.
When night falls, some friends come to Au’s store to enjoy music. Au is optimistic about the fad for the younger generation to play with vinyl records. He thinks that even though digital music gives them unlimited portability, there is no substitute for the real of vinyl sound.
“Vinyl makes us feel ‘real’ with music, even if the artist is dead, his real sound was captured in the record. When you play it, he is still alive. I believe vinyl records will never die.” Au said.
Charlene Yang 