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Vinyl sales are on the increase. Are we surprised? No, not really. Sean Adams at Drowned in Sound gives us the lowdown, and we wax-lyrical about our not so secret love of vinyl too.....
Sean Adams over at Drowned in Sound reports on a refreshing rise in vinyl sales. We're not surprised. Here at Tin Can, we receive a lot of stuff in mp3 format from bands but still fully appreciate the interactional experience only really offered by vinyl. It sweetly enslaves you...nothing else (well, maybe the old cassette tapes) makes you get up and flip to the other side to hear the rest of the work. Vinyl provides the perfect medium for two-part concept albums; a natural delineation, as exemplified by Kate Bush's classic 'Hounds of Love', and on the soon to be released Dead Skeletons 'Dead Magick'. For us, the accesibility of music through mp3's takes away the pleasure of record store shopping; sharing aural passions with knowledgeable record store staff, ordering an out-of-stock then getting the call to say it's arrived, or the sheer pleasure of leaving the store with the 12x12" bag that states loud and clear 'I love vinyl'. There was a bleak period when you couldn't always get what you wanted on vinyl, but looking at the list of Top Ten vinyl sales in Adams' article, it's evident that record companies are taking note that vinyl still sells...
Put the needle on the record.
Tin Can.
Sean Adams-Drowned in Sound:
Good news everyone...
The album may not have blown everyone away but Radiohead's King of Limbs, has sold 20,771 copies on vinyl, and has contributed to the resurgence of vinyl LP sales in the UK. This is all according to analysis by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) of Official Charts Company data.
Overall, vinyl album sales increased to 168,296 sales in the first half of 2011, compared with 108,307 in the same period of 2010. Interestingly, the average price of a vinyl LP is now £16.30 compared with £7.82 for CD albums and £6.80 for digital albums.
Kim Bayley, Director General of ERA, said:
"Vinyl may still be a niche format, but it is growing fast. Whether it is the "warmer" sound many music fans appreciate, the large-scale artwork of a 12" sleeve or its sheer retro appeal, vinyl seems to be capturing the imagination of buyers despite the fact it typically costs twice as much as a CD containing exactly the same music...Much of the focus in the music industry has been on cutting prices, partly in response to the rise of internet piracy. The success of vinyl shows music buyers will pay a premium if we deliver them a package they really love."
And here's a list of big-selling albums which were unsurprisingly the biggest sellers on vinyl...
Top 10 Vinyl Albums Jan-June 2011
1. Radiohead - The King of Limbs
2. Beady Eye - Different Gear Still Speeding
3. Adele - 21
4. Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See
5. Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys
6. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
7. Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
8. Noah & The Whale - Last Night On Earth
9. Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines
10. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Source: Official Charts Company
Some footnote stats of note:
King of Limbs sales blow the 1,446 copies sold by the best-selling title in the first six months of 2010, which was the vinyl edition of modfather Paul Weller's Wake Up The Nation.
The other major contributor was April's Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record shops, which features many exclusive vinyl releases.
The UK numbers follow hot on the heels of figures from Nielsen which showed vinyl sales up 41% in the US in the same period.
2010 marked the fourth successive year of growth in vinyl album sales in the UK.
Tags: vinyl
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