The Nielsen Wire’s latest report on music sales has a lot of positive news for the industry. Digital and track sales have been experiencing dramatic growth since the beginning of 2011, while this past year’s Record Store Day was unarguably the most successful out of its four year history. But what is probably the nicest surprise for music junkies to hear is the big sales increase vinyl records have received as well.
Vinyl sales have reportedly increased by 37% at the in the beginning of 2011 over the same period last year. Considering how the physical CD is close to extinction during a time of digital dominance, this boost in vinyl sales is very impressive. Granted, there has always been an interest amongst music collectors to own vinyl editions of albums, and it still only marks a small percentage of broader physical sales (1.6% to be exact). But this sales increase shows how strong of a market there really is for vinyl.
In regards to the increase the industry has seen (both in vinyl and digital sales), Dave Bakula of SVP Analytics, Entertainment for The Nielsen Company had the following to say:
“Strong releases and aggressive promotions by the labels and retailers are among the many contributing factors to the strength we’re seeing in the music industry. Overall, the data reflects a continuing strong demand by music consumers.”
This nice boost in sales doesn’t mean that the industry is out of the dark just yet. It also doesn’t mean that vinyl is coming back in full force again. It does, though, show promise for the industry that this Summer might not be as horrid as recent months have been in regards to sales. It’s also simply nice as music fans to see more people purchasing vinyl. You can read the Nielsen Wire’s full report online.
