Vinyl sales in the UK have outdone CDs for the first time in 35 years. According to the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), vinyl sold 41 million units while CDs sold 33 million in 2022.
Starting in the late 1980’s, vinyl was slowly phased out by the introduction of cassettes, CDs, MP3s, iPods and eventually streaming. And though streaming is the most common way to listen to music today, the popularity of vinyl can easily be seen in major cities throughout the West. It is especially noticeable here in Montreal where it is common to see a record collection in any given apartment–and even more common to see records used for decoration. At my apartment alone, the collection between the roommates is more than 700 records.
Read: The History of Recording Sound/Music (Timeline)
It’s not just vinyl that is doing well right now. Music sales in general were up 3 percent in 2022 to $2.37 billion which is the highest since 2003. Subscription streaming alone is up 5 percent to $1.98 billion.
In a release, ERA CEO Kim Bayley said, “We are approaching a watershed. Thanks to the investment and ingenuity of streaming services on the one hand and to the physical retailers who have driven the vinyl revival on the other, music is within sight of exceeding £2bn in retail sales value for the first time in more than two decades.”
“Music has to be great to win people’s attention, but it’s the buying and consumption experience which ultimately persuades people to put their hands in their pockets.”
Physical sales were most popular among artists who released new albums in 2022. Some artists in the top 10 for physical sales include Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, Liam Gallager, The Arctic Monkeys, Wet Leg, The 1975 and Muse.