Vinyl record sales increased by 15% in the first nine months of 2023 compared to last year.
The figures were released by BPI (via MusicWeek ) and accounted for 3,952,262 record sales, a 13.2% increase since 2022. According to the report, the third quarter of the year saw sales of 1,237,620 records, a 15% increase compared to last year.
So far, the main artists responsible for the resurgence in vinyl sales include Lana Del Rey, Taylor Swift, Blur , and Kylie Minogue – all of whom have released new LPs since the beginning of the year.
So far, Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd remains the biggest vinyl release of the year – with 33,568 copies sold in the format since its release in March. This is followed by Speak Now (Taylor's Version) , which was the best-selling vinyl release of the third quarter, with 29,649 sales.
In third place are Britpop icons Blur, whose ninth studio album, The Ballad Of Darren, sold 26,894 copies, and Tension isn't far behind, with 19,160 copies sold since its release last month.
MusicWeek predicts other releases with high sales by the end of the year Rolling Stones , who will release Hackney Diamonds – their first new album of original music in 18 years – on October 20th.
The number is also expected to increase with Black Friday and Record Store Day on November 24th.
As reported by MusicWeek , CD sales in 2023 fell 6.3% compared to the previous year, and physical sales as a whole fell 0.5%. Streaming continues to be the primary way of consuming music, representing 88.5% of the market.