The Audio Format Everyone Forgot Just Made a $1 Billion Comeback

For decades, vinyl records were dismissed as obsolete—replaced by CDs, then streaming, and nearly erased from store shelves. But the format everyone thought was dead has staged one of the most remarkable comebacks in music history, generating over $1 billion in annual sales for the first time in decades. In this episode of Global Decoded, we uncover how the music industry abandoned vinyl, why younger generations embraced it again, and the surprising cultural and economic forces that turned an outdated format into one of the fastest-growing segments of the music business. From Record Store Day and Gen Z collectors to Taylor Swift's record-breaking vinyl releases, supply chain crises, and the revival of independent record stores, this is the extraordinary story behind the world's oldest surviving music format. If you enjoy deep dives into forgotten history, technology, business, and the hidden stories behind everyday life, subscribe to Global Decoded for more documentaries that reveal how the past continues to shape the modern world.