I continue to be intrigued by the growing influence of vinyl records, a once dominant media that by the early 2000s was thought to be dead. Now, however, after 17 back-to-back years of ever-increasing sales growth (according to RIAA data), it is back. A global phenomenon, this week the U.K. government announced it would now include vinyl records in its official basket of goods used to track inflation.
See more on the growing influence of vinyl albums
It truly is a remarkable story in my mind. When I first began reporting on the growth in vinyl record sales, I received a lot of snarky comments. Some readers said it was a “fad” and others called it a “fluke.” One reader told me, “It’s just that consumers are feeling a bit nostalgic,” he said with great confidence – going on to suggest that this too shall pass.
Well, whatever it is, the global phenomenon of growing demand for vinyl records has reached the point where the Office for National Statistics, part of the British government, announced this week that they will add tracking of vinyl record pricing to its basket of goods used to measure the official number for inflation. Government officials said that this addition will serve to “better reflect current shopping trends.”
Another Double Digit Growth in Sales of Vinyl in 2023
First reported by the business newsletter Morning Brew, I have to say the news didn’t surprise me too much. It seems that vinyl – for whatever reason – is here to stay. I’ve read about it, seen the data over the years, and even my kids have told me about the category’s growing influence among their base of friends.
Here in the U.S., it was recently reported that vinyl record sales have grown yet again. According to data from Billboard Magazine, 49.61 million vinyl records were sold in 2023, up 14.2% compared to sales of 43.46 million in 2022. Double-digit growth, yet again!
One Factor – Artists Make More Money on Physical Media
Now certainly, physical media sales remain dwarfed by streaming music, whose streams are measured in the trillions. But physical media is making a legitimate comeback. You may have seen my story last month on the fresh burst of growth for the cassette tape format. The snark flowed from many commenters, but yet another physical medium is seeing unusual growth.
For one thing, artists make substantially more money off the sale of a physical album, than they do off the play of a stream. Almost all of the major artists are now issuing all of their latest music on multiple formats, including vinyl records.
Top 10 Vinyl Album Sales in 2023
Luminate, an entertainment data and tracking company, just released a report that included a list of the top ten vinyl records sold in 2023. At number one is an artist you may have heard of, Taylor Swift. One of the most successful musical artists in the world, Swift releases all of her music on physical media. Her re-release of her album 1989 (Taylor’s Version) sold over a million copies.
In fact, 5 of the top 10 LPs in 2023, were Taylor Swift albums. By the way, fun fact #1, 1989 (Taylor’s version) sold 580,000 records in just the first six days after release. According to Luminate, that made that week the biggest vinyl sales week since they began tracking sales in 1991. Fun fact #2, the same album topping this chart, also was the number one selling CD, with 800,000 physical discs sold.
Yeah…physical media is happening.
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