Vinyl records were a surprise hit this Christmas, with weekly sales in the UK soaring to their highest level this century during the festive shopping period, fuelled by artists including Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones.
The vinyl record resurgence, with a new generation of music lovers turning to retro formats such as LPs and cassettes, has fuelled a sales surge to their highest annual level since Elton John’s Sacrifice and Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby topped the charts in 1990.
Last week, more than 250,000 vinyl records were sold, the most since the turn of the century, as music lovers opted for the classic format as gifts for Christmas.
Vinyl albums have become prized for their cover art, sleeve notes and warmer sound compared with digital streaming.
The top sellers last week were Taylor Swift’s new version of 1989, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, The Rolling Stones’ Hackney Diamonds, Pink Floyd and Abba Gold, as a growing army of Swifties boosted the US singer’s sales while older collectors turned to the classics to build out their collections.
Overall, purchases of vinyl LPs have risen for a 16th consecutive year, topping 5.9m this year, an 11.7% annual increase, more than four times the rate seen in 2022.
The most popular vinyl artist was Swift. In a year in which she conquered the movie box office, notching up the biggest concert film of all time with The Eras Tour, the singer continued to re-record earlier albums, allowing her to profit from her music after her original masters were sold away from her. Two new editions became bestsellers this year: 1989, and Speak Now from 2010.
Other biggest-selling artists on vinyl this year were Blur, Lana Del Rey, Lewis Capaldi, The Rolling Stones and Kylie Minogue, according to data from Official Charts for the first 51 weeks of this year, analysed by the music trade body the BPI.
While the once mighty CD continues its inexorable decline – sales have plummeted in the face of the streaming revolution, and the format has not proved a favourite with collectors – sales fell at the smallest rate in a decade this year.
CD sales peaked in 2004 and began to decline in 2005, with digital streaming now accounting for more than 80% of the UK music market. This year CD sales are expected to fall by 6.6% to about 10.6m, a significant improvement on the 19.3% fall recorded last year.
Sales of cassettes have topped 100,000 units for a fourth consecutive year. Overall, the market for physical formats – vinyl, CDs and cassettes – will decline by just 1% this year. This is the closest it has come to stabilising since 2004, the last year to show overall growth.
“Led by vinyl, the resurgence of physical product underlines the resilience of the UK music market at a time when streaming consumption continues to hit record levels,” said Jo Twist, the chief executive of the BPI. “Whilst LP sales have now been on an upward path for the past 16 years, it is encouraging to see stabilisation in demand for CD, as well as new generations of music fans falling in love with the cassette. It is giving people more choice than ever in how they enjoy their favourite music.”
In November, the industry was given a pre-Christmas confidence boost when HMV reopened its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street after a four-year absence, and the entertainment retailer’s owner hailed a revival in sales of physical music formats, including CDs.
Bestselling vinyl albums in 2023 (up to chart week 51)
1. Taylor Swift – 1989 (Taylor’s Version) Swift continues to earn a great reception to the releases of her albums (in response to her masters being sold away from her), and her 2014 smash hit took this year’s vinyl top spot.
2. The Rolling Stones – Hackney Diamonds Released in October, this was the Stones’ first album of original material in 18 years and featured a stellar guest-star lineup, making it a guaranteed seller.
3. Lana Del Rey – Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd The songwriter’s ninth album, released in March, was a huge success despite the singer eschewing commercial hits for more cryptic, exploratory material.
4. Taylor Swift – Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) Swift rereleased her 2010 album in the summer and it was an instant hit with fans, becoming her 10th UK No 1 album.
5. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours The classic 1977 album is a staple of most vinyl collections and appears in the top 10 bestsellers for an eight consecutive year.
6. Blur – The Ballad of Darren The ninth studio album from the beloved British rock band received rave reviews and features in the Guardian’s top 10 best albums of 2023.
7. Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon Like Rumours, the iconic album cover of this 1972 Pink Floyd classic can be found in many vinyl collections and it frequently bags a bestseller spot.
8. Taylor Swift – Midnights Although it has been more than a year since Swift released this surprise new album – her 10th – a number of special editions probably helped it to retain a top spot.
9. Olivia Rodrigo – Guts The second album from the Gen Z icon was also this year’s bestselling cassette tape, showing that new generations of music fans are fully embracing the physical formats decades after their heyday.
10. Lewis Capaldi – Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent The highly anticipated follow-up to Capaldi’s mammoth hit debut album was released in May and was an instant success with fans of his mournful ballads.
