Vinyl in the 1990s: How DJ Culture Kept Vinyl Alive

This is the format's low point. The market bottoms out around 1993, pressing plants close one after another, and many of the decade's major albums simply never got a period vinyl pressing at all. What saves vinyl is DJ culture. The 12-inch remains the only credible format for house, techno, jungle, and hip-hop, carried by independent labels and specialist distributors. Turntablism organizes itself around the DMC championships, and DJ Shadow's Endtroducing in 1996 proves a whole album can be built entirely from other records. Daft Punk's Homework in 1997 closes out the decade in style. For collectors, the '90s is a two-speed hunting ground: plenty of 12-inches at $5 or $10, and a handful of short-run independent pressings that easily top $100.