As vinyl sales continue rising, more listeners are looking to upgrade their turntables rather than buy new high-end players. Guidance on the topic identifies the stylus, or needle, as the component most responsible for audio quality, since it reads the grooves on a record. Styluses come in several shapes—spherical, elliptical, microliner, Shibata and line contact—with spherical or conical tips being the cheapest and most durable but least detailed option.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-26
Rehan Ahmed, 40, was sentenced after London police raided his company Phoenix of Vinyl and found 2,791 fake vinyl records covering 108 artists, including Adele, Beyoncé and the Beatles. The British Phonographic Industry triggered the raid after a test purchase, and BPI director Peter Ratcliffe says the operation cost artists and labels tens of millions of pounds.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-25
Lofi Girl has debuted a new continuous YouTube stream called Lofi House, dedicated entirely to human-made house music. Its label, Lofi Records, released a companion compilation featuring 19 contributing artists like Akraam, lofi cassette, KBS and Nabuko across major streaming platforms, with a vinyl edition now open for pre-order. The channel is fronted not by Jade, the original Lofi Girl, but by a new fictional character named Julien Maison, or Lofi Teacher.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-17
Máuhan M Zonoozy, who previously led innovation at Spotify and founded remix startup Bubbl before its acquisition by Cricket Media, has launched A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, a startup building small apps for playing with sound and vocals. The company secured $5.5 million in pre-seed funding from investors including Mantis VC, SV Angel, Boxgroup, and former Spotify advertising executive Dawn Ostroff, who is advising the venture. Rather than one product, the startup releases experimental apps as 'singles,' such as a Chrome extension called Speed Surfer that alters browser audio and a stem-mixing tool called Stacks.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-14
A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, a startup founded by former Spotify innovation head Máuhan M Zonoozy, has closed a $5.5 million pre-seed round from investors including Mantis VC, SV Angel, Boxgroup, and Dawn Ostroff. The company builds a series of small apps and web tools, like Speed Surfer and Stacks, that let users manipulate and remix sound and vocals rather than generate music via AI prompts.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-14
Mutant has issued a vinyl edition of David Fleming's Emmy-winning score for the show 'Widow's Bay,' packaging the music with detailed extras for collectors. The release aims to capture both the playful and unsettling tone that defines the series.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-10
The RIAA reported that US recorded music revenue rose 6.9% in H1 2026 versus H1 2025, with physical formats up 25.9%—vinyl grew 17.7% and CDs jumped 58.6%. Streaming still dominates overall revenue at $4.9 billion, but the outsized physical growth stands out amid rising anger over digital ownership issues.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-07
The RIAA reported that US recorded music revenue hit $6 billion in the first half of 2026, a 6.9% increase over the prior year. Physical formats led the growth, with CD sales jumping 58.6% and vinyl climbing 17.7%, while streaming still dominated overall revenue at $4.9 billion, up 4.7%.
tomshardware.com
· 2026-09-06
The RIAA reported that 17.5 million CDs were sold in the US during the first six months of 2026, up from 12 million a year earlier, generating $171.1 million in revenue. Vinyl sales also grew nearly 21 percent to 26.5 million units, while other physical formats like cassettes and DVDs rose over 73 percent to 1.6 million units. Streaming still dominates overall, growing 4.7 percent to $4.9 billion in revenue, far outpacing physical formats combined.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-05
The RIAA's latest report shows CDs generated $171.1 million in the first half of 2026, up 58.6% from the same period in 2025, with unit sales rising 45.7% to 17.5 million. That growth reverses a decline seen throughout 2025, when full-year CD revenue and units both fell versus 2024.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-04
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