While physical music sales in the UK are on the rise, a new report has shown that vinyl sales in the US have dropped by a third.
READ MORE: Taylor Swift and Record Store Day see highest weekly vinyl sales in 30 years
The latest figures come as part of Billboard’s latest music consumption report, and show that record sales across America saw a 33 per cent decline in 2024.
In 2023, vinyl sales were at 34.9million units, however, the latest statistics show that this has dropped to 23.3million in 2024.
It isn’t just vinyl sales that have been impacted. Both CDs and digital albums have taken a hit this year too, with the former dropping by 19.5 per cent compared to 2023, while the latter is down 8.3 per cent from where it was last year.
According to the outlet’s report, album sales on the whole have seen a drop by 23 per cent – declining from 75.5million units sold in 2023 to 57.7million in 2024. This, it highlights, is unlikely due to there being less of a demand for albums, but rather due to economic factors, with vinyl copies benign priced at roughly $40 each, and some box sets and reissues costing up to $200.
Record Store in the USA. CREDIT: Michael P. Farrell/Albany Times Union via Getty Images
The report on sales in the US tells a different story to that of UK figures this year. Earlier this summer, it was reported that sales of physical music were on track to see their first increase in two decades, following years of being overshadowed by streaming.
The stats were shared by Official Charts Company and BPI, which each reported that physical album sales have experienced a 3.2 per cent increase in the first six months of 2024 (8,044,760 units sold).
This marked the first time the sector has seen an increase since 2004, when a shift to digital music consumption and streaming began.
One of the largest contributors to the rise in sales was Taylor Swift‘s ‘The Tortured Poets Department‘ which saw 254,241 copies sold in the first six months of 2024.
Others that aided the sales were Billie Eilish‘s ‘Hit Me Hard and Soft‘ (which sold 45,434 copies), The Last Dinner Party‘s debut ‘Prelude To Ecstasy‘ (42,352 copies) and the self-titled album from Liam Gallagher and John Squire (46,982 copies).
Taylor Swift ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ album artwork
The news of the surge in sales across the followed an upward trajectory for vinyl sales this year. In April, vinyl sales enjoyed their highest weekly total sales in three decades, and before then, it was reported that the number of independent record shops in the UK had hit a 10-year high, and that sales of vinyl records in the UK had hit their highest level since 1990.
According to the BPI’s analysis, the “ever-rising demand for vinyl albums and other music releases on physical format” across the country reflects a “thriving market for music on the high street”. It also cited the popularity of independent record stores and the success of shops like HMV, which reopened its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street last year. The movement has also seen iconic UK music store Our Price relaunch, 20 years after it was forced to close its doors.
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