UK vinyl sales surge to highest level since 1990, thanks to Taylor Swift, others
Vinyl records and CDs are seen on sale at the HMV store on Oxford street on Dec. 28, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Peter Nicholls/Getty Images)
LONDON - Taylor Swift has driven sales of many things this year, including friendship bracelets, movie tickets, and, apparently, vinyl records.
Vinyl sales in the U.K. surged in 2023, increasing 11.7% so far this year to 5.9 million units, according to data shared by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an association for the UK’s record companies and labels. Sales reported this year were more than four times those of 2022.
The increase of vinyl record sales in 2023 was led by brand-new releases from Swift, as well as other artists including Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, Lewis Capaldi, and The Rolling Stones, the BPI noted.
Swift’s "1989 (Taylor’s Version)" album sold the most vinyl albums this year, followed by "Hackney Diamonds" by The Rolling Stones, "Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd" by Lana Del Rey, "Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)" by Swift, and Fleetwood Mac’s "Rumours" rounded out the top five.
Blur’s "The Ballad Of Darren" was the sixth most sold vinyl album, followed by Pink Floyd’s "The Dark Side Of The Moon," "Midnights" by Swift, Olivia Rodrigo "Guts," and Lewis Capaldi’s "Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent," according to BPI.
More than 250,000 vinyl albums were sold during the week of Dec. 18, making it "the highest sales week for the format this century," the trade association said.
"While more than four-fifths 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," BPI said in a statement.
Demand for vinyl records has been growing in double-digits for more than a decade. The pandemic also provided a surprising jolt. With music tours canceled, and people stuck at home, music lovers began snapping up record albums at an even faster pace.
Record albums nearly spun into oblivion with sales overtaken by cassettes before the compact discs brushed both aside. Then came digital downloads and online piracy, Apple iPods and 99-cent downloads. Streaming services are now ubiquitous.
But nostalgic baby boomers who missed thumbing through record albums in their local record stores helped to fuel a vinyl resurgence that started about 15 years ago.
Now, a younger generation has been buying turntables and albums — and cassette tapes, too — and a new generation of artists like Swift, Adele, Ariana Grande and Harry Styles have been moving to vinyl.
In the U.S., physical music sales reached the highest level since 2013, with vinyl albums outselling CDs for the third consecutive year, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
Still, streaming in the U.S. accounted for 87% of total revenue in the first six months of 2023 "with paid subscriptions still the strongest driver of revenue growth," the RIAA 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," Dr. Jo Twist, BPI chief executive, said in a statement. "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."
Twist added: "It is giving people more choice than ever in how they enjoy their favourite music."
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This story was reported from Cincinnati. The Associated Press contributed.