Brisk vinyl sales music to Rega’s ears

FOR THE RECORD | Rega co-founder and owner Roy Gandy says vinyl delivers a dynamic range that exceeds digital sources. This helps explain the steady increase in vinyl album sales year after year.

Vinyl records that had been given up for dead not too long ago are showing remarkable resilience and staying power in the age of streaming and digital downloads.

According to the yearend report of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), revenues from vinyl records grew 17 percent last year to $1.2 billion, the 17th straight year that sales had gone up.

And in a reversal of fortune, vinyl albums outsold compact discs last year for the first time since 1987, to the tune of 41 million versus 33 million units.

“Music lovers clearly can’t get enough of the high-quality sound and tangible connection to artists vinyl delivers,” says RIAA chair and CEO Mitch Glazier.

Indeed, vinyl is “cementing its role as a fixture of the modern music marketplace” and this suits UK-based Rega Research Ltd. co-founder and owner Roy Gandy just fine, as more vinyl records sold means more demand for its famed turntables and range of precision hi-fi products, including amplifiers and loudspeakers.

Rega began in 1973 and its initial success was built on award-winning tonearms and turntables that expanded to complete hi-fi systems in the 1980s.

Since then, the company founded on engineering has expanded to cartridges, phono stages, CD players and accessories, with each and every product designed and still assembled by hand in its custom-built 38,000 square-foot facility in England.

Rega is so confident in its products that it offers a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects on every single product it makes that is designed “to achieve the best musical performance and deliver a lifetime of musical enjoyment at an affordable price.”

“Rega is a unique brand run by passionate engineers who love music. Rega has never followed trends or fashion and has always concentrated on value for money, reliability and most importantly, sound quality over and above everything else,” Gandy tells the Inquirer.

This philosophy explains why Rega has never placed a paid advertisement in its 50 years of operation, choosing to spend what would have been a large marketing budget on research and development so that it can uphold its core values to benefit the customer.

FULL SCALE | Rega has a turntable for all markets, from beginners to audiophiles. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

‘Best Turntable’

One of its most iconic products is the Rega Planar line, with the entry-level Planar 1. Described as “a spritely, entertaining turntable with no obvious flaws,” Rega Planar 1 was named by What Hifi as the “Best Turntable” (in the 200-500 British pound range) for the seventh year running.

It is locally distributed by One Make HiFi Corp. led by Stephaenie Gan, whom Gandy himself credits for having grown local sales “beyond the norm.”

This he credits to One Make HiFi’s respect for and understanding of Rega’s values of musical performance and ethical business relationships and also the Filipinos’ love for music.

“The Philippines is possibly the most musical country in the world and this is the reason for our products being appreciated,” says Gandy, “We are also excited that Stephaenie, a young female, has also increased sales beyond the norm. The Philippines is our most successful Asian market and Rega is a strong protagonist of female equality.”

Gan of the Gen-Z crowd says sales in the Philippines grew in 2021 by a whopping 250 percent, the highest in the Rega world, attributed to the entry of Rega to more markets spanning from the beginners to the audiophiles.

Gan shares that the pandemic helped boost sales as Filipinos were stuck at home and had more time to appreciate the quality that vinyl can deliver, especially the younger listeners who may have picked up vinyl for the first time during the lockdowns.

That vinyl trend has continued even as pandemic restrictions waned, helped along by the fact that both foreign and local artists such as Taylor Swift and the Eraserheads have been releasing their music on vinyl.

TAG TEAM | Stephen and daughter Stephaenie Gan ably represent Rega in PH.

Catering to all

To deliver the best possible listening journey to the market, One Make HiFi helped the target market aged 20 to 35 years old find the Rega turntable or full system to fit their budget and their needs.

These are available online at soundadviceph.com and physical shops such as Watts Hifi at Makati Central Square, The Listening Room at SM Megamall and The Grey Market on Katipunan in Quezon City.

Rega in the Philippines serves two main types of buyers—the high-end market looking to upgrade their lifestyle and listening experience and the middle-class music lovers who want to experience their music in a different way and develop a more personal connection to their favorite artists through vinyl.

It also does not overlook the older generation who grew up on vinyl and are longing for that once familiar pleasure of listening to records from their youth and willing to pay for the experience.

To serve these buyers’ needs, One Make HiFi brought to the market systems ranging from a low of P30,000 to around P80,000, depending on their quality expectations. And sales are expected to continue coming in, as it looks like vinyl sales will also continue defying gravity.

For Gandy, there is just no equal to vinyl and Rega wants to do that music justice through its products.

“For us, it is simple. Many people want to hear the best sound and vinyl delivers a dynamic range that exceeds digital sources,” says Gandy, “Music is a lifelong passion and for many, it is the most important thing in their world. It helps relieve stress and provides relaxation and entertainment in the comfort of your own home.”

“The combination of a well-recorded vinyl pressing and a good turntable will deliver a sound closer to a live performance, which connects the listener to the artist in a more intimate way,” he adds.