Vinyl is continuing to make a comeback with new figures show that 19.2 million albums have been sold in the format since the start of 2021.
This boom in sales is an impressive 108% increase in comparison to the same time period in 2020 where 9.2 million vinyl records were sold.
Vinyl is traditionally the format used by DJ’s, and for a long time it was a format kept alive predominantly by electronic music, but this was changed by improvements in equipment that allowed for better manipulation of digital formats such as CD’s and later MP3’s.
After vinyl was no longer used as a standard format by DJs, it looked like the format was going to go extinct, and CDs would become the last remaining physical format for music to be released in.
Although Vinyl for the last few years has started to consistently outperform CD sales, which in the first half of 2021 stood at 18.9 million units sold.
Some of the top-selling vinyl of releases of the year include Harry Styles’ ‘Fine Line’, Billie Eilish’s ‘When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?’ and Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Good Kid M.A.A.D City’.
Vinyl pressing facilities are currently finding it difficult to keep up with this demand, and there are huge delays for many musicians waiting for their music in this format.
Streaming remains the most popular way for people to consume music, and in the past 6 months, that has also risen by 15%.
H/T: Mixmag
