Vinyl Sales Set For Another Record Year

UK sales of vinyl albums this year have already exceeded the total achieved in the whole of 2013, according to analysis by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). Year-to-date sales of vinyl albums now total 844,122, according to ERA analysis of Official Charts Company data, compared with the 829,243 sales recorded in 2013. With three months of the year still left to run, that means total 2014 vinyl sales will almost certainly exceed one million, more than four times their level as recently as 2008.

Entertainment Retailers Association Director General Kim Bayley said, “This is an extraordinary turnaround. Independent retailers were first to identify the untapped potential for vinyl and made it the focus of Record Store Day. With record labels now making more vinyl available, this trend shows no sign of abating.”

The biggest-selling vinyl album of 2014 to date is AM by Arctic Monkeys, heading a Top 10 dominated by rock acts.

Bayley pointed out that vinyl still had some way to go before vinyl becomes the UK’s favourite physical format. The 844,122 vinyl albums sold this year amount to less than 3% of the physical albums market with a massive 97% on CD. “The compact disc remains the most successful disc format of all time,” said Bayley. “The fact that nearly two-thirds of albums are still sold on CD more than 10 years after the digital music revolution speaks for itself.”

Source: ERA