Experts polled in a recent survey by Discogs say the future of the vinyl format is looking healthy – and given that the platform is the biggest music database and marketplace in the world, what it says about statistics and trends in the music industry is surely well worth listening to.
Recent reports have made for encouraging reading for vinyl fans – sales of the format are at their highest level in the UK since 1991 and are up 26.8% year-on-year, according to the BPI. There’s a similar upward trend in the US, with Nielsen Music reporting a figure of 9% for vinyl growth in 2017, with the format comprising 14% of all physical album sales.
Discogs recently spoke with professionals across a range of industries connected to the vinyl format – including artists, record labels, record stores, and equipment manufacturers, among them author and Long Live Vinyl contributor Jennifer Otter Bickerdike – to gather their thoughts on the topic of sales. Representatives from Third Man Records, Warner Music Group, Record Store Day and Audio-Technica, along with vinyl connoisseur Henry Rollins all shared their thoughts on the future of vinyl – read it here if you fancy some reasons to be cheerful.
Discogs also confirmed that, in mid-February, it will provide insights into the global market that will shed an even brighter light on the growth of not only the vinyl format, but all physical formats.
BPI’s latest stats are handily summarised here, and Nielsen Music’s (for the US) are here.
