Vinyl sales top 2m weekly units in sales: Is streaming in trouble?
With sales of Taylor Swift's albums being a major booster
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Vinyl sales top 2m weekly units in sales: Is streaming in trouble? · Source: Victrola Record Players, Unsplash
Vinyl sales again topped 2 million weekly units for the third year in a row around Christmas. These numbers are the highest since vinyl sales were electronically tracked in the early nineties. In addition, cassette tapes and CD sales have been steadily increasing in recent years. Are we seeing the resurgence of physical media?
Vinyl sales top 2 million units – And Taylor Swift is to blame
Christmas shoppers drove vinyl sales to over 2 million units sold per week for the third year in a row in that period. According to Billboard, 2.115 million units were sold in 2021 in the week ending with December 23. Last year set the record so far with 2.232 million units sold in the week ending with December 2022. These are the highest weekly numbers since vinyl sales were tracked electronically – in 1991.
Vinyl sales from 1973 to 2022 (Source: RIAA) · Source: RIAA
Over 40 million vinyl records were sold in 2022 in the US. While this might be seen as a sign of a vinyl resurgence, it pales in comparison to the heyday of the medium. In the record year 1979, over 534 million vinyl units were sold, according to the RIAA. On the other hand, before the vinyl boom, only 2.4 million units were sold in 2006.
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Taylor Swift was one of the biggest drivers of this year’s vinyl sales. Six of her re-recorded albums were among the top ten best-selling vinyl albums the week before Christmas. In total, almost ten percent of all vinyl albums sold that week were Swift’s.
Can touch this – streaming vs. physical medium
Sales of all physical media – vinyl, cassette tape, CD, DVD, Blu-ray being the most common ones – have been rising in recent years. It certainly seems like more and more music listeners want to hold the music in their hands again, not stream it from the cloud.
Spotify sign-up page · Source: Spotify
In addition, filmmaker Christopher Nolan (jokingly) warned about films “vanishing” if streaming services removed them, compared to owning a copy on DVD or Blu-ray. Judging by the resonance his quote drew from film buffs and blogs all over, it seems like Nolan hit a note. If Netflix or Spotify choose to remove a title and you don’t have a physical copy of the album or film at home, it’s the day the music dies.
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So, many have been going back to vinyl, Blu-ray or other physical media. Still, nearly 80 percent of this year’s record-breaking 16 billion USD revenue came from streaming.
More on Vinyl sales
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9 responses to “Vinyl sales top 2m weekly units in sales: Is streaming in trouble?”
There might be an increase in physical sales, but it’s not the end for streaming services.
I think the more important numbers in this case would be some kind of survey asking why people are buying physical media.
I work in a place where I can listen to my headphones, and customers frequently ask me what I’m listening to. I have many conversations about music.
Most people don’t even know there’s a record store in town. Most people find it amusing that I buy CD’s. Most people who buy vinyl think of it more as a wall piece or a collectible.
Even the vinyl heads and DJs that I know are surprised that I buy CD’s. And they do buy cassettes, but they’re usually special editions or box sets that sit on a shelf looking cool next to their succulents and Buddha statues.
(I’m not saying any of this is bad. These are just my observations. And I don’t think that physical media as a novelty or a marketing strategy will lend itself to a booming longevity for physical sales.)
For example, I wonder how much of the physical music boom has to do with the popularity of k-pop, and other similar things.
(I’m not claiming that it’s only k-pop, but this example illustrates the way many people feel about physical media. When we start talking about Taylor Swift, we’re talking about a certain group of people buying certain physical media, as opposed to a general public who are generally not buying physical.)
K-poppers will buy multiple copies of the same release, just because they have a different cover. Also, k-pop releases come with extras like cards, posters, keychains, and other collectibles. Sometimes people will buy multiple releases to get all the cards, then re-sell the actual CD. (I’m not saying that this exclusively contributes to sales, but these are the types of people who buy physicals, and this illustrates their mentality when doing so.)
I should also mention as a counter to my k-pop example that they, and pop-heads in general, will stream the same tracks/videos on repeat to boost the streaming numbers. There are also the people and situations where a device might be left to stream for hours on end, without anyone actively listening to the music. So maybe we can account for some whales on both ends of the spectrum.
So when it’s said that people want to hold the music, rather than stream it, I think they key word is “hold”. Holding physical media isn’t listening to it, and I think most people want to listen via streaming and/or digital media.
Movies are different, because there’s not as clear of a collectible appeal to a DVD, and a blu-ray case doesn’t look cool hanging on a wall. I’d still be curious to know what types of DVD/BLU are being sold most, and what demographics are buying them. Is it special-edition box-sets with unreleased behind-the-scenes documentaries?
Is it average people with average incomes and two small children buying them? Or is it silver-haired men with expendable income and home theaters with a nice shelf displaying their blu-rays or youtube creators who want the scoop on whatever niche franchise they cover?
I think (and please, correct me if I’m wrong, and give me some examples/evidence) I think the former would be more conducive to a long-term increase in sales.
There’s nothing wrong with a few whales that can keep sales high. I just don’t think there’s enough evidence to speculate that streaming will decline for the vast majority of people.
I can’t wait for vinyls to die. I love physical media and limited releases, but vinyl is the absolute worse.
It’s expensive, fragile, sounds like crap and it’s rarely fun : at best a disc with fancy colours.
Normally, CD (maybe minidiscs ?) should be next… and I can’t wait for this to happen…. because the sound is as good as our ear can perceive and we had tons or great limited edition with tons of fun gimmick.
Are you saying next to die or next to see an increase in sales? I’m on the fence, because CD’s going up could mean the price goes up for me lol
And mini-CD’s rule, but they’re surprisingly more expensive for both the disc and packaging.
It’s funny, because everything is going up. Not just vinyl, but CD’s, cassettes, AND streaming are seeing increases, although I’d still say not large enough to speculate about passing streaming.
The top 3 countries buying music are USA/JPN/UK/DEU (I looked it up to make sure I’m correct, and apparently UK and Germany are neck-and-neck).
CD’s have always stayed consistent in Japan, and they’re also one of the top consumers of Korean pop, along with the US. If you want to talk about gimmicks, that’s what physical K-pop releases are all about, and they’ve perfected the formula.
If our beloved Taylor Swift and western labels were to get into boxed releases in the style of the Korean industry, then I think that would be the best hypothetical that could create a CD boom. The type of peole buying T-Swift enjoy vinyl as a novelty, which is a quality that the Korean industry excels at.
Other than that, I can’t imagine something other than a slow increase, and maybe a generational change. People today, gen-x and up, are solidly in the streaming camp. Millenials and younger are shocked/confused/amused when I tell them I just bought a stack of CD/DVDs.
If trends really are cycles, the CD should go back in fashion in the next few years.
Ha – my teen and friends collect CDs now from charity/throfts shops – cheap and they see them as retro 🙂
Trends are more like rotations…per minute…
There’s a joke in there somewhere.
The sales figures cited are from 2021 and 2022. And it’s not clear whether the Christmas sales numbers are from 2023.
Spotify should be worried, but not from this, they should worry about withholding royalties.
I’m interested in subscribing to your magazines section.
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