Vinyl is becoming more than a niche industry (again) // photo by Steven Errico
The resurgence in vinyl popularity has surprised many, apart from, well, those who never left it. Joining the tally of vinyl sales growth, this week, is the UK who announced reaching a milestone of 1 million physical copies sold, despite living in an ever-engrossing digital age.
BBC reports “only five years ago this business [being] worth around £3m a year. This year it’s going to be worth £20m.”
This exponential growth is staggering, reaching heights that haven’t been met since 1996. With Christmas around the corner, the expected sales numbers are expected to round out near 1.2 million copies altogether by the end of the year.
Part of this year’s success comes from the fastest-selling vinyl release this century: Pink Floyd’s The Endless River. With 6,000 copies purchased in its first week (the highest mark recorded since 1997), the annual figures were bolstered, among the growing stereotype of vinyl “being cool again.”
As a frame of reference, record sales are expected to surpass 7 million in the United States this year, as calculated by Nielsen SoundScan. This is attributed from their early report of 4 million albums sold within the first half of 2014.
And, this just in from Japan: the CD is still king.
Grooveroo 