Record year – Barcelona's booming vinyl scene

Filling the Sink

Record stores and listening bars are popping up everywhere in Barcelona. Vinyl sales in Catalonia surpassed CD sales in 2023 for the first time since the 1980s. Why has this old, impractical way of listening to music gained popularity in a time when everyone can access whatever music they want on their phones?

Lorcan Doherty joins Lea Beliaeva Bander to chat about the vinyl revival. Carlos from Surco and Marc from Wah Wah explain how it is affecting two of the city's older record stores. David Ayllón from the cultural association Salvadiscos talks about the social side of sharing music.

This week's Catalan phrase is 'com un disc ratllat'. Literally, 'like a scratched record', it's used like the English phrase 'like a broken record'.