A midyear music report released last week by Luminate Data has indicated that sales of vinyl LPs in the US rose to 19.4 million for the first six months of 2022. This figure represents around 53% of all 36.5 million physical album sales in the States so far this year.
Interestingly, sales during this reporting period have skewed away from existing catalogue releases and toward newer releases. In May, former One Direction member Harry Styles sold more than 183,000 copies of his third studio album, Harry’s House. In addition, Tyler the Creator released a vinyl version of Call Me if You Get Lost nearly 10 months after its initial release. This resulted in 50 K vinyl sales and a return to #1 on the Billboard 200. This makes a big statement about vinyl’s increasing relevance from a genre perspective.
On the retail side of things, mass merchant stores have doubled their share of the vinyl market since 2019, from 6% up to 12% through to mid 2022. As the report says:
While independent stores and online retailers still dominate the market, responsible for 52% and 31% of all vinyl sales respectively, this can certainly be looked at as an indication of retailers like Target and Walmart more aggressively stocking and marketing vinyl products….It’s yet another reflection of vinyl’s increasing value within the consumer landscape.
Luminate Data Report
The report also took a look at exactly who is buying vinyl in the US. In short, it seems, vinyl buyers are younger women and older men. Among women, the Gen Z audience accounts for 34% of sales; while the older Millennial and Gen X generations tend to do the bulk of the buying on the men’s side.
