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UK vinyl sales double year-on-year to similarly small amount
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 15 April 2016
Ahead of this year’s Record Store Day tomorrow, record industry trade group the BPI has released new stats on vinyl sales, showing a 60% rise in UK sales year-on-year for the first quarter of 2016. Vinyl revival! Woooooooooo!
A total of 637,056 vinyl albums were registered as sold between January and March this year, according to data from the Official Charts Company. This has almost doubled vinyl’s share of that there album market from 2.1% to 3.9% in the space of a year. That brings the total revenues the medium contributes to almost nothing.
“Vinyl is no longer the preserve of baby-boomers who grew up with the format”, says BPI boss Geoff Taylor. “It now also appeals to a new generation of engaged younger fans and millennials. While digital platforms provide fans instant and unlimited access to an ever-expanding cosmos of music, they can’t quite match the unique experience vinyl gives you”.
And that experience, Taylor explains, includes “browsing for rare gems in your favourite record store, poring over the cover art and sleeve notes and enjoying the ritual of carefully dropping the stylus onto an LP and savouring its analogue sound. Younger fans increasingly discover on digital but collect on vinyl”.
The top ten vinyl albums and singles so far this year have also been announced, both of which suggest that “baby-boomers who grew up with the format” do still count for quite a chunk of sales.
David Bowie comes up top in both. His ‘Blackstar’ album is the best selling LP, while 1975’s ‘Golden Years’ tops the singles chart. In total, Bowie takes three of the top ten albums and four of the singles, as fans bought up his catalogue in the wake of his death in January.
Lists? Lists:
Top ten vinyl albums so far this year
1. David Bowie – Blackstar
2. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
3. The 1975 – I Like It When You Sleep
4. Adele – 25
5. The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses
6. David Bowie – Nothing Has Changed: The Very Best Of
7. Various Artists – Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix 1
8. David Bowie – The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust
9. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Legend
10. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
Top ten vinyl singles so far this year
1. David Bowie – Golden Years
2. The 1975 – A Change Of Heart
3. David Bowie – Space Oddity
4. Massive Attack feat Azekel – Ritual Spirit
5. Jeff Buckley – The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
6. David Bowie – Fame
7. Blossoms – At Most A Kiss
8. New Order – Singularity
9. PJ Harvey – The Wheel
10. David Bowie – Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime)
