The Lifespan of an LP?

Inna, that’s what people thought in the ’60s. playing Sergeant Pepper’s or Surrealistic Pillow over and over again was certain to wear it out in no time. When I first started getting into vinyl again in the last decade I researched the question because I wondered if it was actually true. I never found anyone currently professing to say that that is the case although it was widely believed at one point in time.

The older the vinyl the better so it’s not surprising that stuff from the late 40s the 50s and the 60s hold up so well. I’m really not so sure about the endurance of the flimsier vinyl starting approximately in the ’80s. It’s obviously a less hard and durable material. Much more prone to surface noise.

I can tell you that one of the best things to look for are mono recordings from the late 50s and early ’60s. Many of these were played very little because once stereo came out people just put them away and never played them again thinking that it was an inferior format. Over time I have found incredibly pristine mono recordings from this time period and they really are something special to experience.

Hmm, so it remains a kind of hypothesis.
I listen to some records often enough but not every day or every other day. I also clean them after 10-15 plays. For background music I listen to Nakamichi tape deck.

Been buying vinyl record since 1964. When Capitol records state that they've sold 8 million copies of Sgt. Peppers my audio collector friend and I say hogwash, between the 2 of us, we've owned that many.........
Many of the answers and yes, even opinions stated here are quite true. It depends. Just up from here it was mentioned about playing a record more than once a day. If you've ever seen a microscopic video of a stylus passing in slow motion thru a record groove it gives the appearance of a tire going thru water. Even though vinyl is considered a solid, it's not. It is a very dense liquid state and the 1.5g stylus is making waves. I wish I could provide a link for this but alas I cannot. If someone can find this anomaly, please share.

Right, vinyl is not solid, stylus disturbs it and damages it a little, I suppose. 

The problem with vinyl is usually not out-and-out wear from too much playing. The problem is that a record needs to be treated with respect.  Don't eat fried chicken before you take a record out of the jacket to put it on.  Don't leave them out in direct sunlight to bake n' warp.  Put 'em back in the jacket after you've played 'em. If you see dust, cat hair, or sand on the surface, gently wipe it off with a clean soft cloth or dedicated record brush. Similarly, if you see schmutz on the turntable platter, clean it off.  Don't play 'em wet. Try not to zoom your tonearm sideways over the record when you're hunkering down to cue up the track you want to hear.  Don't stack them in a random pile.  Don't stack them horizontally, either.

Sure, all this stuff is pretty much common sense.  But if you're buying a used record, who knows where it's been?