Vinyl sales in the UK have hit their highest point since 1990, rising for the 16th consecutive year. Sales increased by 11.7% in 2023, with 5.9 million vinyl records sold. This marks the fastest growth in the vinyl industry this decade. A report from The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) showed that 40% of the top 100 vinyl LPs were from British artists, including Depeche Mode and Blur. Taylor Swift was the most popular vinyl artist of 2023, holding three spots in the official vinyl artist albums chart.
The resurgence of vinyl has occurred alongside a shortage of pressing plants. Major labels are dominating the market, leaving little room for independent labels. Moreover, independent record stores continue to close down, including Universal Roots Records in South London and Unearthed Sounds, a vinyl distributor and record store in Dorset.
Cassettes are experiencing continuing demand, with 100,000 units sold in 2023 for the fourth year in a row. By contrast, sales of CDs have started to decline, with only 11 million units sold in 2023, indicating a plateau in sales.
Streaming continues to boom, accounting for 87.7% of the market, according to the BPI’s report. The UK’s music streaming market rose to 179.6 billion streams, a 12.8% increase on the previous year and nearly double the total achieved five years earlier. Female artists also broke records, securing 31 of the 52 weeks leading the Official Singles Chart in 2023.
Dr Jo Twist, BPI Chief Executive, said that physical product resurgence “underlines the resilience of the UK music market at a time when streaming consumption continues to hit record levels. Whilst LP sales have now been on an upward path for the past 16 years, it is encouraging to see a stabilisation in demand for CD, as well as new generations of music fans falling in love with the cassette.” Nevertheless, Mixmag’s investigation from 2021 reveals the struggle the vinyl industry continues to face.
For further details, the report from The British Phonographic Industry on vinyl sales in 2023 can be found here and its report on streaming can be found here
Read the full article from Mixmag here: Read More