Photo Credit: Jamakassi
Vinyl sales in the United States have reached highs not seen since 1991 thanks to the holidays.
Data from Luminate shows that 2.32 million vinyl albums were sold in the week ending December 22–the last week before Christmas. According to Billboard, that’s the single-largest sales week for vinyl albums since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. Vinyl album sales in the US also reached the 2+ million milestone in December 2021–showing the everlasting presence of albums as Christmas gifts.
Holiday shopping helped fuel vinyl album sales by 46.7% in the week ending in December 22. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most popular album sold was Taylor Swift’s Midnights selling 68,000 copies. Part of that success can be attributed to the availability of five vinyl variants–including one exclusive to Target.
Vinyl album sales for the year of 2022 stand at 41.891, which is a 3.6% increase when compared to 2021. The vinyl format continues to make up the bulk of all physical album sales–with 63% of physical sales in the vinyl format. Limited stock of factories compared to the huge number of labels worldwide helps contribute to supply constraints for vinyl records.
The vinyl era of the 1960s and 1970s peaked in 1978 with unit sales of 341 million and revenue of $2.5 billion before a steady decline. The vinyl market finally bottomed out in 2005 at just $14 million in sales that year. But upticks in LP sales and have brought in $1 billion by the end of 2021, representing 7% of all music revenue and 12% of total units sold.
What are the motivating factors for a new generation who are being exposed to vinyl LPs for the first time? An appreciation of the ‘authenticity’ and warmth’ of vinyl records is the key motivating factor in a study of vinyl consumers from 2021. But vinyl ‘newbies’ are also placing more value on the packaging and artwork of albums they consume–both old and new.