Vinyl sales highest in 30 years

Vinyl sales highest in 30 years , British Phonographic Industry , ABBA, Sam Smith, Phil Collins

The news that vinyl sales highest in 30 years will be music to many of us older folk who remember the vinyl album and its rich sounds all too well. Vinyl has been making a comeback for some time being particularly popular amongst club goers, but that is changing.

In 2021 sales were up 8% on the previous year marking the 14th consecutive year of growth according to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). More than five million vinyl albums were sold, the biggest number since the early nineties when Phil Collins topped the charts with “But Seriously”.

Amongst the top selling vinyl albums were the ABBA reunion, “Voyage,” Adele’s comeback “30” and Sam Smith’s “Seventeen going under”.

Perhaps more interesting is the comeback of cassette tapes with more than 190,000 sold in 2021, up 20% on the previous year. This is the highest number sold since 2003 when Now 54 was the big seller.

Still to be confirmed but it is thought that “Sour”, the debut album from US pop-rocker Olivia Rodrigo, is the biggest selling tape of 2021, alongside Dave’s “We’re All Alone in This Together” and Queen’s Greatest Hits.

The increase in sales is thought to be down to the rise of record stores and their promotions, all of which have helped to raise awareness and to boost sales.

Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, Brit Awards & Mercury Prize, said: “It’s a great time to be a music fan, with wider choice on offer than ever before supported by great value. Thanks to record label investment into new music and talent, fans can purchase and collect the music they most love on vinyl, CD and even cassette, whilst also enjoying access to over 70 million songs to stream instantly whenever and how often they want, in turn enabling a new generation of artists to create music and sustain successful careers in a global market.”

Who would’ve thought that in 2021 with all that is going on from a technological standpoint that we would see sales of vinyl sales highest in 30 years.


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Written by

Peter McLaren-Kennedy

Originally from South Africa, Peter is based on the Costa Blanca and is a web reporter for the Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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