LP Vinyl Record Mailer Boxes with QIKPAK™

lp record mailers

LP Vinyl Comeback Calls for specific QIKPAK™ LP Record Mailers

During the worldwide lockdowns, our business experienced an influx of private and professional vinyl traders looking for the best protective packaging solution to safely ship their vinyl records. It got us asking, why the sudden interest in LP Vinyl? And has this interest in old technology continued post-Covid?

Sure – the most common and convenient way to listen to music, in this day and age, is via streaming services and download links. But it seems that the revival of LPs didn’t begin during the years in and around Covid. LPs (also known as Long Play records) started to make their comeback in the mid-2000s and continued their rise in popularity, especially during lockdowns. This popularity continues steadily through to today with future projections showing this will continue.

People of all ages – young and mature – are getting back in to vinyl, for a number of reasons. From vinyls being cool and ‘the latest thing’ to how you can interact with it.  People are eager to get their hands on the album, listen to it in its entirety, and have the complete experience as the artist originally intended.

“There is an undeniable increase in the number of artists releasing their music on Vinyl and we saw this with young artists like Taylor Swift. We expect our LP size to not only be more popular than our CD mailer but potentially continue be one of our best-selling sizes.”
– Eric Miller, UBEECO’s Managing Director

15%


% increase in LP vinyl sales 2018 (*statistics from the ARIAs)

14%


% increase in LP vinyl sales 2023 (*statistics from the NDH)

vinyl record mailers

In Australia, the growth in popularity of LPs was embraced and celebrated by the ARIAs, launching a new, weekly chart category dedicated just to Vinyl Albums: The Vinyl Albums Chart. That was in 2018, and this category continues today.

According to the ARIAs, the Australian music industry had seen an increase in vinyl album sales for eight consecutive years – where in 2018 sales were up by 15%. In their most recent report (March 2023), “Vinyl accounted for 63.4% of total physical sales in 2022 by dollar value and 36.2% of physical sales by volume”.

LP mailers Qikpak

Source: Statista

vinyl record mailers

In the US alone, LP Vinyl sales have continued to soar year after year since 2006 with consistent growth. According to Nielsen’s 2019 Year-End Music report, the number of units sold went from 900,000 in 2006, to 18.8 million in 2019. (Source: Statista)

In 2023 a total of 49.6 million vinyl albums were sold, up by over 14 percent from the previous year. (Source: Statista)

49.6 Million Vinyls sold in 2023

0.9 million in 2006
18.8 million in 2019
49.6 million in 2023

LP Vinyl Cardboard Mailers

Back in 2018, we received a tonne of requests for sturdy LP Mailers with the ability to pack multiple LPs or other flat items in the one shipper. To respond to this demand, we created LP Vinyl Record Mailers available in 33 x 33 (QP LP 33 x 33) which are self-adhesive and 100% recyclable.

Since then, we have continued to support this demand especially with more Vinyl stores opening in this niche market.

We have also found our Record Mailer being used for packaging non-standard print material like photobooks, catalogues, calendars and more.

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vinyl record mailing carton

Vinyl "aka" LP Record journey

Perhaps, it’s the appeal of the ‘vintage look’ or the nostalgia for a less-digitised, organic sound. One of the standout reasons why there has been a rise in LP Vinyls is their tangibility and the ritual that comes with playing and listening to music on a record player: the physicality of setting up the record player and legibility of information about the artist/s and the album itself. The larger size of an LP vinyl accommodates for detailed information which is readily available for listeners to read – information which would otherwise need researching when listening to music on a smartphone (for example). Album covers in the size of LP Vinyls can double as displays too – something that a music streaming service cannot match.

That’s why – when we designed all our QIKPAK™ products, especially our LP Record Mailers – we took into account what customers would be shipping.

Many vinyl record aficionados look for collectors’ items and limited-edition pieces which often need extra care and protection. Our LP Record Mailer features a buffer zone for added shipping protection: avoiding damages that may be caused during the parcel’s transit to your customer.

There’s also no need for additional protective packaging material like bubble wrap as the flaps are designed to hold the contents securely. Plus, this feature also reduces unnecessary and additional weight when calculating shipping costs.

qikpak cardboard mailers dimensions

Whatever the reason for the rising interest in LP Vinyls – the choice of listening to music on Vinyl records rather than on a smartphone, desktop or any other electronic device is entirely subjective. There is a clear-cut difference in sound quality as well as tangibility: some may lean one way or the other, depending on personal taste. However, the continuing popularity of LPs surely reflects the triumphant fight for LPs to live on for decades to come.

Our Vinyl Cardboard Mailers are available with custom branding options.
Contact us or visit our online store to place your order.

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Check out our Vinyl Nostalgia playlist on Spotify!

Designing the LP Mailer had us reminiscing over The Classics. So, we’ve curated a compilation of songs on vinyl for you to enjoy!

Follow us on Spotify (scan the Spotify on your app) and listen to our Vinyl Nostalgia playlist.