Vinyl sales surged by 13.2% in the first nine months of 2023 compared with the same period last year, according to new statistics from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), fuelled by releases from Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Blur and Kylie Minogue. This 16th year of growth is made possible by the physical music distribution businesses responsible for getting records to shops and consumers in the UK. But disarray in one of the UK’s biggest players means that smaller acts are missing out on chart positions. This is affecting consumers and independent retailers already struggling with small profit margins during the industry’s pivotal fourth retail quarter.
One British independent label saw one of its biggest acts miss out on a Top 20 album placement when the UK’s leading physical music distribution company became mired in chaos during a warehouse move. Additionally, nine months of work and thousands of pounds of investment were undermined when part of its stock for a September release was temporarily unable to be located, said a senior executive from the label. “It put a crack through the middle of the campaign. It could mean a knock of 50% off sales.”
