For the first time since 1996, 1 million vinyl records have been sold in the UK.
The Official Chart Company told the BBC that sales this year will reach £20 million – incredible for a technology that was practically “written off”.
“In an era when we’re all talking about digital music, the fact that these beautiful physical artefacts are still as popular as they are is fantastic,”.
The records don’t end there though either – earlier this month, Pink Floyd’s The Endless River became the fastest-selling vinyl release since 1997.
It has been suggested that this could well just be a niche thing, that probably wont go much further. In a world where digital music is king, it’s hard to see young One Direction fans popping down to HMV to buy their latest record. They’re more likely to go and download it (sometimes legally) or further still, stream it. One Direction celebrated 1 billion streams on Spotify just earlier this week.
It does however raise a point that many have been keen to discuss recently – are digital music sales and streaming making enough money for artists? Is this rise in vinyl a sign of struggling artists turning to more novel, material sales in an effort to generate a profit?
What do you think, is this just a fad for hipsters, or is it a sign of things to come for struggling musicians?
Source: BBC News
I thought I was the only person in the world to still have a collection of vinyl records (some even bakelite) dating back to the 1930’s. I don’t play them anymore, I just keep them for the nostalgia.