2012 Top 10 Selling Vinyl Albums, Vinyl Sales Rise In The U.S. And UK
2012 was another great year for vinyl album sales. The U.S. saw its 5th year of record-breaking sales while the UK also saw its 5th year of rising sales. Vinyl sales remain a tiny percentage of overall album sales but represent a steadily growing niche feeding audiophiles, collectors and superfans. In the U.S. vinyl sales were predominantly via indie music stores and Jack White was no. 1 with "Blunderbuss."
According to The Nielsen Company & Billboard's 2012 Music Industry Report:
"For the fifth consecutive year, more vinyl albums were purchased than any other year in the history of Nielsen SoundScan."
- "In 2012, vinyl album sales reached 4.6 million in sales, breaking the previous record of 3.9 million LP album sales in 2011."
- "67% of all vinyl albums were purchased at an independent music store during 2012."
- "Vinyl album sales in 2012 were up 19% compared to 2011 and accounted for 1.4% of all album sales and 2.3% of all physical album sales."
2012 Top 10 Vinyl Albums in the U.S.
- Blunderbuss – Jack White
- Abbey Road – Beatles
- Babel – Mumford & Sons
- El Camino – Black Keys
- Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons
- Bloom – Beach House
- For Emma Forever Ago – Bon Iver
- Boys & Girls – Alabama Shakes
- 21 – Adele
- Bon Iver – Bon Iver
In the UK vinyl sales were as robust as in the States and The xx took the top spot with "Coexist."
According to the Official Charts Company:
"Vinyl sales grew for the fifth successive year with a total of 389,000 LPs sold during 2012 – an increase of 15.3% over 2011’s sales of 337,000."
2012 Top 10 Vinyl Albums in the UK
- Coexist – The xx
- The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust – David Bowie
- Blunderbuss – Jack White
- 21 – Adele
- Lonerism – Tame Impala
- Tempest – Bob Dylan
- Bloom – Beach House
- An Awesome Wave – Alt-J
- Go-Go Boots – Drive-By Truckers
- The Wall – Pink Floyd
Though vinyl sales are definitely a niche, there's a strong positive value in having an area of growing sales that encourages creative packaging and connoisseurship.
More:
- Vinyl News: 3D Printed Record, Turnplay Vinyl iPad App, Blue Note Reproductions
- 15 Best Cassette Releases Of 2012
- Vinyl News: Sales Growth, Vinyl Kickstarters, Marshall Crenshaw's Vinyl Subscriptions
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/App.net) blogs about music crowdfunding at Crowdfunding For Musicians (@CrowdfundingM). To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
dont forget to promote hypebot is rad!!!
If anybody knows of an on-demand vinyl pressing service please let me know.
There are a number: GZ in the Czech Republic is one. You can sent them a file and get records back. Or Gotta Groove in Cleveland. If you want the best in the USA, RTI in CA and QRP in Salina KS.