Vinyl Record Sales Continue To Grow In U.K., U.S., But CDs, Downloads Rule

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Doylestown, Pennsylvania, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) November 11, 2011 -- 23 OCTOBER - 2011 – The U.K. market for music on vinyl has been buoyed in recent days by the latest hot-selling discs by Adele, Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, who are seeing impressive sales in a recording format that was until recently thought to be supplanted by CDs and digital downloads.

The U.K.’s Official Charts Company says that vinyl LPs have this year seen their best sales in more than five years. The number of vinyl discs sold this year has already overtaken the number sold in 2010, with nearly a quarter of a million LPs sold this year in the U.K. The numbers in no way threaten to overwhelm CD or digital download figures, but demonstrate that the vinyl fan base is a growing niche audience.

Radiohead’s most recent release has sold over 20,000 units. Other artists profiting from the renewed interest in vinyl include P.J. Harvey, Bon Iver, and Adele.

Nearly 3 million vinyl discs were sold last year in the United States, and that number is up 40 percent this year. As is the case in the U.K., total vinyl sales are equal to a small fraction of CD and digital download sales.

The introduction of CDs in the early 1990s cut into vinyl record sales and virtually removed cassette tapes from the market. Vinyl recordings were championed by niche musical acts, but the cost of manufacturing them was prohibitive.

The introduction of digital downloads may have sparked a revolt amongst musical purists who treasure the purity of vinyl’s sound. These niche interests continue to spur on the growth of the format once thought to be extinct, and although vinyl has only a fraction of total market sales, its following is said to be a committed one.

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