VINYL

Vinyl Sales are at a 26 Year High

Who said that Vinyl was dead?

According to statistics posted by the Recording Industry Association of America, 9 million vinyl records have been sold I the first half of the 2015 financial year, in comparison to the 14 million sold in the entirety of 2014.

According to Music Watch, a study on consumption of music by American audiences has shown that over half of all vinyl record buyers are under the age of 25- an age bracket known in financial circles as ‘millennials’.

Men are a tad more likely to buy vinyl than women, making up 56% of customers.

According to CNBC, sales have not been so high since 1989, one year before the CD (remember those?) began do dominate the music market. The news follows on from 2014’s headlines about Jack White‘s Lazaretto earning the highest vinyl sales since 1994.

The obvious question to pose is why, in the age of music streaming services, are vinyls (not to mention tapes) making a comeback to the market?

Independent Record Pressing GM Sean Rutkowski believes that the age of digital music streaming is in fact causing the comeback of the vinyl. “I believe that digital has helped the comeback of Vinyl because digital strips out the tangibility of music… it really is just a file. It’s something you can hold, something you can touch, something you can listen to in a way that just putting something on your computer doesn’t compare to.”

According to the association, LP shipments have increased by 52% in 2015 to earn $222 million. However this only accounts for 7% of the music market when streaming services are taken into account.

Regardless, it appears the comeback of the vinyl is gaining traction – and perks like in store appearances by rock superstars in outlets can only help this growth.