Record Store Day is not only a lot of fun, it also puts vinyl in the minds of music buyers everywhere. And it seems to be working - thanks to this year's event, vinyl album sales were up a whopping 213 per cent in the US.
Across all retailers (both independents and chains), sales reached 547,000 for the week ending 27th April according to Nielsen Music (via Billboard). That's the biggest non-Christmas week for vinyl albums since Nielsen started collecting point-of-sale music data back in 1991.
The picture is even more rosy for independent music shops. Their sales of vinyl albums for that week were 409,000, a staggering rise of 484 per cent. Which is heartening when we remember supporting independent retailers is the whole point of the day.
MORE: Vinyl LP sales grow 66% since last year
These stats are only for the US - we don't have the equivalent UK figures yet. But we do know the two top-selling vinyl albums for that weekend in the UK were both Bowie: Cracked Actor (Live in Los Angeles 74) came in at number one, while Bowpromo (a reissue of the 1971 promo LP made to secure Bowie a record deal) was second. That's according to The Official Charts Company.
According to Record Store Day UK co-ordinator Megan Page, sales of music in general were up on last year. "Our data at this stage suggests sales grew another 10 per cent [on last year] which we are really pleased with as each year we don't think we can physically get any more people through the door," she told Music Week. She added that, based on anecdotal evidence, it was looking like 2017 was the best year yet for Record Store Day UK.
