FEATURE:
Record High
PHOTO CREDIT: RF._.studio/Pexels
of a vinyl revival and growth that I think we will see for many years more. The more we think of streaming and how little it pays artists, the more people are compelled to invest in physical music. I can understand why vinyl is booming and has this allure. I wonder why this year has been such a big one for vinyl. One could say that there is a new wave of listeners who are discovering vinyl. Huge modern artists being streamed but also having their albums bought. Classic albums keep on providing popular. It is magnificent to see! I will come to onto some theories as to why we are seeing such an upswing and continued appreciation of vinyl. First, Music Week reported on a record high year for vinyl sales:
“Vinyl LP purchases have risen for the 16th consecutive year in the UK in 2023.
While that’s not so surprising, what is perhaps unexpected is that vinyl sales are growing at their fastest rate this decade.
Following a 2.9% improvement in unit sales last year, the vinyl market in 2023 has experienced much stronger growth, with an 11.7% year-on-year rise to 5.9 million units.
The figures are based on analysis of Official Charts data by the BPI, and cover the period up to chart week 51.
The increase has been led by new releases from artists including Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, Lewis Capaldi, the Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is the year's biggest vinyl seller with 78,767 units (up to week 50), followed by the Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds (42,815 vinyl sales).
As well as the continuing popularity of independent record stores, the vinyl market’s strength was also reflected in HMV’s return to London’s Oxford Street after four years with a flagship store.
While more than 80% 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.
Additionally, the CD market has sustained its smallest annual decline in nearly a decade this year as it moves closer to plateauing. Almost 11 million CDs were sold across the year, while sales of cassettes topped 100,000 units in a calendar year for the fourth consecutive year.
Led by vinyl, the resurgence of physical product underlines the resilience of the UK music market
Final figures for vinyl LP, CD and cassette sales in 2023 will be unveiled by the BPI on January 3, along with the total volume of audio streams for the year and the final year-end charts.
Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI chief executive, 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. 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. It is giving people more choice than ever in how they enjoy their favourite music."
New releases top best-sellers list
Seven of the 10 biggest vinyl LP sellers in the year to date are a 2023 new release, led by 1989 (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift and also including her album Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), along with albums by Blur (The Ballad Of Darren), Lana Del Rey (Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd), Lewis Capaldi (Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent), Kylie Minogue (Tension) and The Rolling Stones (Hackney Diamonds).
Additionally, nearly half of the 100 most purchased vinyl LPs of 2023 were released in the past two years and include albums by UK artists such as The 1975, Depeche Mode, Ed Sheeran, Gorillaz, The Lathums, Liam Gallagher, Maisie Peters, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, The Reytons, Royal Blood, Sleaford Mods and Sleep Token.
These were alongside big-selling vinyl releases by international artists, including Blink-182, Boygenius, Olivia Rodrigo, Paramore and Queens Of The Stone Age, as well as the soundtracks to the Barbie and Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 movies.
IN THIS PHOTO: The cover for Olivia Rodrigo’s album, GUTS
Titles defined as catalogue continue to play an important role in growing the vinyl market, with 2023’s biggest sellers including Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, which is set to be among the year’s 10 biggest-selling vinyl LPs for an eighth consecutive time.
Other successful catalogue titles on vinyl included reissues and collections by The Courteneers, De La Soul, Oasis, Pink Floyd and Wham!, as well as evergreen classics such as the original studio version of The Dark Side Of The Moon and Arctic Monkeys’ AM.
The vinyl market was also boosted by Record Store Day, which in April reported that its annual event had increased vinyl sales by 122%. National Album Day, which is organised jointly by the BPI and ERA, grew vinyl LP sales on the day of the event by 51%.
Brand new albums also lead the CD and cassette markets, with the 10 biggest titles in each market at this stage having been released in 2023. Take That’s This Life is the year’s top CD, having sold more than 100,000 copies on the format during its first week of release in November, while the other most popular titles include albums by Ed Sheeran, Lewis Capaldi, Pink, the Rolling Stones and Taylor Swift.
Olivia Rodrigo has the top cassette seller this year with her second album, Guts, while other popular cassette titles include 2023 releases from Blur, Inhaler and Kylie Minogue.
Further support for the physical format in 2023 came from increased distribution capacity, with Utopia Distribution Services and DP World opening a new warehouse for physical music in Bicester with a daily handling capacity of more than 100,000 units.
OFFICIAL VINYL ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2023 – Official Charts Company
1 Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
2 The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
3 Lana Del Rey – Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
4 Taylor Swift – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
5 Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
6 Blur – The Ballad Of Darren
7 Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon
8 Taylor Swift – Midnights
9 Olivia Rodrigo – Guts
10 Lewis Capaldi – Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent
OFFICIAL COMPACT DISC ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2023 – Official Charts Company
1 Take That – This Life
2 Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version)
3 The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds
4 Lewis Capaldi – Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent
5 Ed Sheeran – Subtract
6 Pink – Trustfall
7 Foo Fighters – But Here We Are
8 Metallica – 72 Seasons
9 Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds – Council Skies
10 Kylie Minogue – Tension
OFFICIAL CASSETTE ARTIST ALBUMS CHART 2023 – Official Charts Company
1 Olivia Rodrigo – Guts
2 Ed Sheeran – Subtract
3 Kylie Minogue – Tension
4 Inhaler – Cuts & Bruises
5 Blur – The Ballad Of Darren
6 Lana Del Rey – Did You Know There’s A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
7 Sleep Token – Take Me Back To Eden
8 Lewis Capaldi – Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent
9 Hozier – Unreal Unearth
10 The 1975 – Live With The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra”.
I love that breakdown of cassette and C.D. sales; which artists were most popular on each format. I think it is worth saying that not only vinyl that is seeing resurgence and success. Even though they are not at the same level in terms of sales, cassettes and C.D.s continue to be bought. With artists offering C.D. and cassette bundles, there is this option for fans. At a time in history when we can access everything on the move, people are drawn to a format that can only be heard when we are static. Maybe there is that opportunity for people to play an album and have that quiet moment. Being able to stand back and shut the world away. There is something emotional and special about listening to a vinyl L.P. You get the experience of taking the album out of the sleeve and the sheer excitement of holding something that impressive. It is a completely different experience to streaming. You have something that has that tangible quality. Something you can keep and enjoy for years. I guess a lot of fans are buying vinyl for new albums because it is their favourite artist. Lots of Taylor Swift fans buying her albums. That dedication and passion. Maybe some are buying albums they may not necessarily play a lot. Owning it because they can come back to it or add it to their collection. I do think most of the albums bought this year on vinyl are going to be played a bit. Classic albums reaching new hands and incredible modern albums being snapped up by loyal fans. Whereas some might assume fans would stream the albums instead, there is an appetite to have the physical version.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jorge Fakhouri Filho/Pexels
I wonder if we are reverting to a time when physical music was shared and swapped. People exchanging vinyl and discussing their purchases. If older buyers might have been buying vinyl for decades and are continuing to invest, there is this new generation that are saving up, buying vinyl L.P.s and have it to keep for years. Not in a bad way…there is this return to a past decade. Not that people are eschewing streamed music, though it is clear that there is more to vinyl that it being cool and collectable. There is the culture and buying experience when it comes to vinyl. A special occasion and wonderful experience. With vinyl, you also get the superior listening experience and that feeling of ownership. Maybe streaming sounds is like stealing or getting music too cheap. Vinyl lasts whereas streamed music is ephemeral and can disappear at any point. There is the amazing artwork. The fact you can detach from a screen and focus on the album itself without distraction. When streaming offers quick listening, easy access and a chance to skip through tracks, there is this rebellion. People enjoying a slower listen. If we listen to an album all the way through then that means the music goes deeper. It also compels us to buy other albums on vinyl. This U.S. article from earlier in the year highlighted how the vinyl sales success is not going to end anytime soon:
“This resurgence is just one chapter in a broader story about the growing popularity of older technologies. Not only are LP records coming back, but so are manual typewriters, board games and digital cameras from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
There are many theories about why records are making a comeback.
Most of them miss the point about their appeal.
PHOTO CREDIT: Mike/Pexels
Why records and not CDs?
One suggestion is that sales have been spurred by baby boomers, many of whom are now entering retirement and are eager to tap into the nostalgia of their youth.
Data shows this theory is not true.
First, the top-selling vinyl albums right now are current artists, not classic bands. As of this writing, Gorillaz, a band formed in the late 1990s, was at the top of the vinyl charts.
Second, data from the recording industry shows the most likely person to buy a LP record is in Gen Z – people born from 1997 to 2012.
Another theory is that records are cheap. While that might have been true in the past, today’s vinyl records command a premium. “Cracker Island,” the Gorillaz album that is currently topping the vinyl sales charts, lists for almost $22 – twice the cost of the CD. Plus, subscribing to an online service like Spotify for 15 bucks a month gives you access to millions of tracks.
A third explanation for the resurgence is that people claim records have better sound quality than digital audio files. Records are analog recordings that capture the entire sound wave. Digital files are sampled at periodic intervals, which means only part of the sound wave is captured.
In addition to sampling, many streaming services and most stored audio files compress the sound information of a recording. Compression allows people to put more songs on their phones and listen to streaming services without using up much bandwidth. However, compression eliminates some sounds.
While LP records are not sampled or compressed, they do develop snap, crackle and popping sounds after being played multiple times. Records also skip, which is something that doesn’t happen with digital music.
If you’re really going for quality, CDs are usually a superior digital format because the audio data is not compressed and has much better fidelity than records.
Yet even though CDs are higher quality, CDs sales have been steadily falling since their peak in 2000.
PHOTO CREDIT: Ron Lach/Pexels
The ultimate status symbol
In my view, the most likely reason for the resurgence of records was identified by an economist over a century ago.
In the late 1890s, Thorstein Veblen looked at spending in society and wrote an influential book called “The Theory of the Leisure Class.”
In it, he explained that people often buy items as a way to gain and convey status. One of Veblen’s key ideas is that not everything in life is purchased because it is easy, fun or high quality.
Sometimes harder, more time-consuming or exotic items offer more status.
A cake is a great example. Say you offer to bring a cake to a party. You can buy a bakery-made cake that will look perfect and take only a few minutes to purchase. Or you could bake one at home. Even if it’s delicious, it won’t look as nice and will take hours to make.
But if your friends are like mine, they’ll gush over the homemade cake and not mention the perfect store-bought one.
Buying and playing vinyl records is becoming a status symbol.
Today, playing music is effortless. Just shout your request at a smart speaker, like Siri or Alexa, or touch an app on your smartphone”.
PHOTO CREDIT: Matthias Groeneveld/Pexels
I think that vinyl sales will flatten in a few years and then rise again. Into next year and maybe 2025, there are going to be further rises. Massive artists with huge fanbases account for a lot of the success. There are reissues and anniversary releases of albums. Classics that are being re-bought and finding new appreciation. One thing that amazes me is how, even though vinyl sales are stellar, the prices are not coming down too much. It depends on where you buy an album, yet they tend to be over £20 for a single album. Maybe a little less. Let’s say between £18-£20 all the way up to £24 or £25. That may not sound a lot but, when you think about the ease of streaming and C.D.s and cassettes being less, it is impressive vinyl is queen. Also, if you keep the album for years, then that cost is worth it! Perhaps less breakable and brittle as a cassette or C.D., the pure heft of vinyl is a reason why people build a collection and invest in the format. Ending this year with a great slice of news, I wanted to give a salute to the wonderful world of vinyl! I predict that we will see this continued and amazing success sustain…
PHOTO CREDIT: cottonbro studio/Pexels
RIGHT through next year.