This year, sales growth keeps exploding. Vinyl sales are up 108% in the first six months of 2021, compared with the same period in 2020, @CNBCUK reports. This sales boom made record stores rare winners in the pandemic-era retail apocalypse — as many music lovers had more time to listen to albums at home and decided to expand their record collections. [CNBC] 

Album sales decreased in 2020 across digital and physical. During the year everything else seemed to be in free fall, vinyl sales shot up by a staggering 46.2% according to MRC Data’s 2020 year-end report. 

Vinyl sales have been steadily increasing for the past 15 years. The trend continued in 2020, and vinyl had its biggest year in units sold since MRC Data started keeping track in 1991. 

Despite constant growth in sales, there are two reasons why vinyl sales growth appears so big in 2020: Record Store Day and accurate reporting. 

The first Record Store Day took place in 2008, starting a legacy and tradition of celebrating the unique culture of record stores and everyone in them. Usually, on the day of, music lovers and vinyl aficionados come out and support indie record stores while getting their hands on special releases. [Forbes] 

Following a 2.9% improvement in unit sales last year, the vinyl market in 2023 has experienced much stronger growth, with an 11.7% year-on-year rise to 5.9 million units.  

The figures are based on analysis of Official Charts data by the BPI, and cover the period up to chart week 51. 

The increase has been led by new releases from artists including Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, Lewis Capaldi, the Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is the year’s biggest vinyl seller with 78,767 units (up to week 50), followed by the Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds (42,815 vinyl sales). 

As well as the continuing popularity of independent record stores, the vinyl market’s strength was also reflected in HMV’s return to London’s Oxford Street after four years with a flagship store. 

While more than 80% of recorded music consumption in the UK is now made up of streaming, demand for vinyl LPs continues to surge, with the market at its highest annual level since 1990. 

Additionally, the CD market has sustained its smallest annual decline in nearly a decade this year as it moves closer to plateauing. Almost 11 million CDs were sold across the year, while sales of cassettes topped 100,000 units in a calendar year for the fourth consecutive year. 

Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI chief executive, said: “Led by vinyl, the resurgence of physical product underlines the resilience of the UK music market at a time when streaming consumption continues to hit record levels. Whilst LP sales have now been on an upward path for the past 16 years, it is encouraging to see a stabilisation in demand for CD, as well as new generations of music fans falling in love with the cassette. It is giving people more choice than ever in how they enjoy their favourite music.” 

New releases top best-sellers list 

Seven of the 10 biggest vinyl LP sellers in the year to date are a 2023 new release, led by 1989 (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift and also including her album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), along with albums by Blur (The Ballad Of Darren), Lana Del Rey (Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd), Lewis Capaldi (Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent), Kylie Minogue (Tension) and The Rolling Stones (Hackney Diamonds). 

Additionally, nearly half of the 100 most purchased vinyl LPs of 2023 were released in the past two years and include albums by UK artists such as The 1975, Depeche Mode, Ed Sheeran, Gorillaz, The Lathums, Liam Gallagher, Maisie Peters, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Reytons, Royal Blood, Sleaford Mods and Sleep Token.  

These were alongside big-selling vinyl releases by international artists, including Blink-182, Boygenius, Olivia Rodrigo, Paramore and Queens Of The Stone Age, as well as the soundtracks to the Barbie and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 movies. 

Titles defined as catalogue continue to play an important role in growing the vinyl market, with 2023’s biggest sellers including Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, which is set to be among the year’s 10 biggest-selling vinyl LPs for an eighth consecutive time.  

Other successful catalogue titles on vinyl included reissues and collections by The Courteneers, De La Soul, Oasis, Pink Floyd and Wham!, as well as evergreen classics such as the original studio version of The Dark Side Of The Moon and Arctic Monkeys’ AM. 

The vinyl market was also boosted by Record Store Day, which in April reported that its annual event had increased vinyl sales by 122%. National Album Day, which is organised jointly by the BPI and ERA, grew vinyl LP sales on the day of the event by 51%. [Music week]