FEATURE:
Physical Attraction
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The Continuing Popularity and Place of Vinyl
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EVEN though I have…
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covered this subject a fair few times through the years, it is worth coming back to. Whilst vinyl and physical sales are not as booming as would like – the pandemic has made that difficult -, sales are doing really well. Streaming is still what many of us are relying on in terms of our music - though there are signs to suggest that there will always be a place for vinyl and other physical formats. I am not sure whether one single reason can be given to the continued stability and popularity of vinyl. Maybe people feel that streaming services are not treating artists fairly. Many prefer the physical experience of vinyl – compact discs are also being bought still, though not as much as vinyl. Music Week reports how, despite some albums being held back and release schedules being disrupted, there is some good news:
“This time last year, the music business was still in uncertain territory as release plans were scrapped and campaigns had to be transformed.
But 16 months on from the onset of the pandemic, for the first time we now have the sales and streaming data to compare one Covid quarter with another. And the results suggest that UK record labels (and their retail partners) have successfully adapted to the uncertainty and restrictions”.
Let’s hope that, as things start to get more stable and record shops are welcoming more people in, we see a lot more vinyl sales! There was a time during the pandemic where many shops were struggling to survive and there was a feeling that they may go out of business. Many are still implementing social distancing, so things are not completely back to normal quite yet.
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I have heard positive news from articles relating to U.K. sales. Things have been doing well in the U.S. this year. DJ magazine told how sales are heading in the right direction, despite the pandemic being a big factor there:
“19.2 million vinyl albums were sold in the US in the first six months of 2021, a 108% increase on the same period of last year.
The figure is significantly higher than the 9.2 million vinyl LPs that were sold in the first six months of 2020, and part of an ongoing trend that has seen vinyl make a huge resurgence in recent years.
Vinyl album sales also just outedged the sale of CD albums, which sat at 18.9 million for the first six months of 2021, according to MRC Data, an analytics firm that specialises in collecting data from the entertainment and music industries. It follows on from vinyl surpassing the annual revenue of CDs in the US last year for the first time in 34 years, which was the first time that had happened in 34 years.
The increase in music consumption isn't just limited to physical sales, with audio streaming up by 15% in the first half of this year.
The top-selling vinyl albums at the midpoint of the year are Taylor Swift’s 'Evermore', Harry Styles’ 'Fine Line', Kendrick Lamar’s 'Good Kid M.A.A.D. City' and Billie Eilish’s 'When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?'”.
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Here in the U.K., sales were pretty good earlier in the year. Shops reopening and welcoming people in has made a clear difference (online sales would have contributed):
“Vinyl sales were up 16.1% compared to the first three months of 2020, with a total of 1,080,653 records sold.
With the UK’s third national lockdown having started in early January, the increase in sales relates to a wider trend from 2020 that saw both new and second-hand vinyl sales increase during lockdowns. Discogs reported a strong jump in sales during the first lockdown in March 2020.
The numbers also reflect a more general increase of vinyl sales, with UK sales reaching a record high of 4.8 million records sold during 2020 — all of which bolsters the British Phonographic Industry prediction that record labels will earn more from the sales of vinyl than CDs in 2021 for the first time since 1987.
The re-opening of non-essential shops on the 12th April also seems likely to have an impact on this year’s vinyl sales, with HMV recording over twice the number of visitors on its re-opening weekend compared to the weekend after the lifting of the first lockdown in 2020, as The Guardian reports”.
Discovering that the upward trend has continued, and we are seeing people either order vinyl and physical music online, is giving energy and hope to the industry. Streaming will always be important…but many are not placing convenience and lower costs over the experience one can only get from physical music. If things improve in terms of the pandemic and stores can relax social distancing measures further – or customers feel safe doing so -, there will be another wave of sales. For someone like me who was raised on physical music, it is amazing and encouraging to see people sticking with it! From diehards and those who have always loved physical music, to younger buyers wanting to see more money go to artists (or simply feel like they are connected too the music being made), this latest positive news…
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IS just what we need.