Vinyl Records Sales Outstrip Digital Sales for the First Time Ever

 

Source: digitalmusicnews.com

Sales of vinyl records have been growing for ten years straight.  Now, they’re outstripping digital music sales in the UK.

The vinyl record comeback is going into overdrive this holiday season.  Now, sales of LPs and 45s are outstripping digital sales in the UK, according to the Entertainment Retail Association (ERA).

The data showed a shocking disparity last week.  But according to the ERA, sales of vinyl reached £2.4 million ($3.03 million) over the seven-day period, while digital purchases only reached £2.1 million ($2.64 million).

That’s the first time this has ever occurred in the history of the music industry.

But it probably won’t be the last.  As sales of iTunes music downloads continue to tank, music fans are increasingly attracted to vinyl records.  In fact, one is surging, while the other is tanking.  According to the same dataset, sales of digital downloads were four times higher than digital music downloads during the same week last year.

+ 48% Of People Who Buy Vinyl Don’t Even Listen To It, Study Finds

Specifically during that week of 2015, vinyl records reached £1.2 million ($1.5 million) while digital sales topped £4.4 million ($5.5 million).  That extreme flip-flop strongly suggests that vinyl record sales will outstrip digital music download sales in 2017.

Vinyl demand meets vinyl supply.

Part of the reason for the shift is simple: more releases, and more places to buy those releases.  In the United States, non-traditional retailers like Urban Outfitters, Barnes & Noble, and Whole Foods have started selling vinyl records.  That has placed product in front of affluent, hip audiences, with great results.  The trend may also be spurring an increase in shops selling vinyl records, or at least reversing their decline (and keeping the open).

+ Urban Outfitters Is the Number One Vinyl Retailer In the World…

The same thing is happening in the UK.  According to the ERA, shops like Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Tiger are all hawking vinyl.  Indie record stores are also reaping the benefits, but more importantly, keeping the product out there.

It’s also beating streaming.

And here’s another fun fact: sales of vinyl records are also beating ad-supported streaming.  According to a shocking finding that surfaced last year, sales of LPs and 45s trumped revenues from YouTube Music, VEVO, SoundCloud, and Free Spotify combined.

Whether that calculus changes in 2017 is anyone’s guess.  Just recently, YouTube reported ad-supported music revenues of $1 billion in 2016 alone.  So let’s see.

Just a bubble?

+ What the Vinyl Records “Comeback” Really Looks Like…

The question remains: how high can this go?  Retailers are expanding, consumers are buying, but is this just a bubble?  Possibly, though the sales levels on vinyl records remain a tiny fraction of sales in the 70s and 80s.  On top of that, the broader contribution to recorded music sales remains modest.  All of which suggests a lot of potential upside.

Source: digitalmusicnews.com

 

Vinyl Record Sales Are At A 28-Year High

Source: fortune.com

When Record Store Day started in 2008, it was conceived as a way to draw attention to independent record stores. But a funny thing happened in the following years: Records - actual LP record albums - mounted a comeback in pop culture.

And as fans of vinyl celebrate the unofficial holiday today, the audience - and reach - of the medium has changed considerably.

Vinyl, initially, saw a resurgence as hipsters in their 20s and early 30s sought a way to differentiate their music listening. Albums were old school, filled with hisses and pops that digital music had erased. But those flaws added a depth and warmth to the music that even people who once owned extensive album collections had forgotten after years of listening to digital music. (Digital is technically cleaner, but the compression technology in MP3s tends to dull the highs and lows.)

Flash forward to 2015. Fueled by that unique sound quality and a nostalgia wave, sales of vinyl records were up 32% to $416 million, their highest level since 1988, according to the RIAA. (CD sales, while much higher in total income, were down 17%.)

Put another way: Revenues from vinyl sales last year were higher than those of on-demand ad supported streaming services, such as YouTube, Vevo and Spotify's free service, which only accounted for $385 million, according to the RIAA. (To be clear, though, paid subscription services and Internet radio services, like Pandora, greatly exceeded LP and EP sales.)

Meanwhile, vinyl is no longer solely the domain of independent record stores. It's quickly becoming ubiquitous in retail stores everywhere. Chains like Barnes & Noble (bks, -6.11%), Urban Outfitters and even Whole Foods (wfm, +0.13%) now carry albums. It's not cheap, either. While most baby boomers likely remember records as being in the $10-$20 range, a new copy of Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA today will run you nearly $40.

Given the increasing number of retail locations for vinyl, it's no surprise that today's biggest artists are embracing it as well. Taylor Swift put out an LP version of her hit "1989" and Justin Bieber will release a 12-inch picture record for his single "Purpose" exclusively for Record Store Day today.

The Biebs is just one of hundreds of artists who will be releasing vinyl albums on Record Store Day. Fans of the recently departed David Bowie will have a chance to get a limited edition pressing of six songs from very early in his career on I Dig Everything – The Pye Singles 1966. (Only 7,500 copies are being made.) There will be a new release of archived material from The Doors, Bob Dylan and a 1977 performance from The Grateful Dead. Even The Monkees are releasing a 10-LP box set of their studio albums and rare tracks.

And experts say don't be surprised if vinyl continues to see noticeable growth in the years to come.

"It would seem that they are bringing the products back to create or capitalize on a nostaglia wave," says Barbara Kraus, director of research at Parks Associates. "It also creates a new experience for people who were born during the digital age."

Source: fortune.com