Millennials boost vinyl sales to highest point in 26 years
The Recording Industry Association of America reports that sales of vinyl in the US are set to reach a 26-year high. Nine million vinyl albums have been sold in the first half of 2015, compared to 14 million albums during all of 2014. The last time that vinyl sales were comparably high was in 1989, just before CDs took over the market and decades ahead of streaming and digital downloads.
The recent revival of vinyl can be heavily attributed to millennials. According to MusicWatch, half of vinyl purchases are made by consumers under the age of 25. Josh Friedlander, RIAA’s senior vice president of strategic data analysis, hypothesizes that that younger generation values vinyl because “in an increasingly digital age, vinyl records can provide a deeper, tactile connection to music that resonates with some of the biggest fans.”
Vinyl was recently announced by the RIAA as the fastes- growing music format, overtaking streaming in terms of revenue so far in 2015. The duration of this growth spurt is most likely short-lived, but it is nevertheless an impressive statistic to see twenty-five years after the last instance of similar levels of popularity. Vinyl sales have increased 52% year-on-year in the first half of 2015 to $222 million. In comparison, streaming has increased 27% in the same period, to $163 million.
H/T: NME
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