Already the subject of countless fish-in-a-barrel jokes about Those Darn Hipsters, the vinyl revival may soon be coming to a bean-to-bar-chocolate-hawking restaurant near you: Casino and coin-operated entertainment trade publication Intergame reports that British jukebox manufacturer Sound Leisure has unveiled the first vinyl record-playing jukebox to be made in nearly 20 years.
The prototype machine, dubbed the Rocket, is able to play up to 140 songs and is intended to capitalize on vinyl’s ongoing surge in popularity. We recently noted that old albums in 2015 outsold new ones for the first time ever as vinyl sales grew by nearly a third worldwide, all while all other formats, including digital, shrank in popularity. According to Intergame, the trend is particularly pronounced in the U.K., where sales have grown by more than 56 percent over the last year (U.S. sales were said to be up 38 percent).
The Rocket debuted at the London Classic Car Show, which wrapped on Sunday. It’ll go into production over the summer, when you can expect bearded dudes with Macklemore haircuts to start playing Toto’s “Africa” on repeat. They will do so for reasons of irony, but then pigeonhole you for half an hour talking about how it’s actually a great song.
[via Fact Magazine]