Vinyl sales top 2m weekly units in sales: Is streaming in trouble?

Vinyl sales again topped 2 million weekly units for the third year in a row around Christmas. These numbers are the highest since vinyl sales were electronically tracked in the early nineties. In addition, cassette tapes and CD sales have been steadily increasing in recent years. Are we seeing the resurgence of physical media? 

Vinyl sales top 2 million units – And Taylor Swift is to blame

Christmas shoppers drove vinyl sales to over 2 million units sold per week for the third year in a row in that period. According to Billboard, 2.115 million units were sold in 2021 in the week ending with December 23. Last year set the record so far with 2.232 million units sold in the week ending with December 2022. These are the highest weekly numbers since vinyl sales were tracked electronically – in 1991.

Vinyl sales from 1973 to 2022 (Source: RIAA)

Over 40 million vinyl records were sold in 2022 in the US. While this might be seen as a sign of a vinyl resurgence, it pales in comparison to the heyday of the medium. In the record year 1979, over 534 million vinyl units were sold, according to the RIAA.  On the other hand, before the vinyl boom, only 2.4 million units were sold in 2006.

Taylor Swift was one of the biggest drivers of this year’s vinyl sales. Six of her re-recorded albums were among the top ten best-selling vinyl albums the week before Christmas. In total, almost ten percent of all vinyl albums sold that week were Swift’s.

Can touch this – streaming vs. physical medium

Sales of all physical media – vinyl, cassette tape, CD, DVD, Blu-ray being the most common ones – have been rising in recent years. It certainly seems like more and more music listeners want to hold the music in their hands again, not stream it from the cloud.

Spotify sign-up page

In addition, filmmaker Christopher Nolan (jokingly) warned about films “vanishing” if streaming services removed them, compared to owning a copy on DVD or Blu-ray. Judging by the resonance his quote drew from film buffs and blogs all over, it seems like Nolan hit a note. If Netflix or Spotify choose to remove a title and you don’t have a physical copy of the album or film at home, it’s the day the music dies.

So, many have been going back to vinyl, Blu-ray or other physical media. Still, nearly 80 percent of this year’s record-breaking 16 billion USD revenue came from streaming.

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