Vinyl production finds groove in Japan, thanks to social media

Sales soar, spurring artists to release new music on records.

 As the vinyl boom takes hold in Japan, more artists are putting out records. Output jumped 74% in 2021 versus the previous year to more than 1.9 million.

TOKYO -- As "city pop," a type of Japanese pop music produced in the 1970s and '80s, wins a new generation of fans around the world, production of phonograph records, the principal medium for recorded music at the time, has more than quadrupled over the past decade in Japan.

As city pop gains more exposure through TikTok and other video hosting apps, it has drawn young people to vinyl records, which offer a listening experience that differs from digital music. More artists these days are also releasing new music on records.