To misquote Philip Larkin, vinyl died for me in 1993, between the beginning of the end for grunge and the recording of the first Oasis CD.

I say CD because, while that now iconic album may have been available on vinyl, I’m definitely (maybe) sure the vast majority of the millions of copies sold were 12 centimetres across rather than 12 inches, and made from shiny plastic rather than the grooved black stuff. If Creation Records founder Alan McGee is reading and knows otherwise, perhaps he’d like to get in touch.

Of course you don’t need me to tell you vinyl has since staged a resurrection. Big time. According to The Economist, the vinyl market in 2022 was worth just under £1.4 billion and is expected to hit £2.3 billion by 2028. In the UK, meanwhile, we bought 5.5 million vinyl records last year, the 15th successive year the domestic market has grown. In the US, music lovers bought 43.5 million vinyl albums and the format was as popular with 25- to 34-year-olds as with over-55s.

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In large part it’s due to the success of Record Store Day (RSD), initiated in the US in 2007 as a way of celebrating (i.e. boosting the income of) independent record shops. By hymning vinyl it also gave a slowly revolving (33 rpm) two-fingers to CDs. Today, it implicitly offers the same gesture to streaming.

The idea is artists or labels produce special, vinyl-only editions available only at specific shops on a specific day in April (though the unsold stuff usually sits in a box near the front door for weeks afterwards). Since 2010, RSD has also been held to coincide with Black Friday in November, which this year falls on November 24.

Among the delights lined up are Guts: The Secret Tracks by Olivia Rodrigo, a 12 inch EP on “opaque deep purple vinyl with four tracks on side A and a butterfly etching on Side B”. Rap fans, meanwhile, can queue for Post Malone’s The Diamond Collection (a deluxe double LP on clear vinyl) or I Am Music by Lil Wayne (colour: translucent ruby). And if your tastes veer more towards Joni Mitchell, The Doors, Charlie Mingus or U2 there are (variously) re-issues, live albums and demo collections featuring those artists.

Here’s the thing, though. One million of those US vinyl sales, and 80,000 of the UK ones, were for a single album: Midnights by Taylor Swift, available in four colours plus a lavender-hued special for discount retailer Target and its 2000 plus US stores. As for Olivia Rodrigo, Guts topped the album charts in 14 countries, including the UK. Post Malone and Lil Wayne?

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Their offerings are both greatest hits collections, and the former’s is so titled because it contains nine diamond-certified singles. None of these acts are exactly cutting edge, and clearly these albums aren’t the sort of underground releases RSD once championed.

Which begs the question: is vinyl now facing a second death? To some, it looks like it.

For a start, its current popularity is such that actually pressing a record is becoming more and more difficult. Where once it took a month or six weeks for bands to have an order fulfilled, the waits are now more commonly six months or a year.

Some, like veteran indie campaigner Damon Krukowski of Galaxie 500, blame Taylor Swift. Reposting an ad for the Midnights vinyl edition he tweeted: “Did you know none of the rest of us can get any vinyl pressed?” Others point fingers elsewhere but always at huge stars on major labels with serious clout when it comes to block booking time at vinyl pressing plants. Predictably, it’s the smaller acts which lose out.

Then there’s price. Swift’s latest release, her re-recording of 2014’s 1989, will cost you just shy of £40 if you want it on vinyl (colour: crystal skies blue). Even Definitely Maybe will cost you around £30. As of lunchtime Friday you could fly from Edinburgh to Brussels for the same amount. Is that sustainable for music fans? When it’s estimated half of US vinyl buyers don’t even own a turntable, is it even moral?

Finally there’s the big E – the environment. Vinyl records are made from plastic which can’t be recycled. Their manufacture produces around half a kilogramme of carbon dioxide per album, equivalent to two miles in a petrol-driven car. Sure, British company Evolution Music is pioneering the use of compostable bioplastics in place of PVC – but you can imagine the wait for that?

Unsurprisingly, many young bands are now turning from vinyl to the most unloved format of the lot. Edinburgh duo No Windows, winners of the best newcomer accolade at last month’s Scottish Album Of The Year Awards, have an EP out at the moment – on cassette.

Are you ready for that revival?