Vinyl sales up 55% in first half of 2011 Radiohead lead the pack with sales of more than 20,000 LP sales of King of Limbs

28 July 2011: First half sales figures show a 55% resurgence in sales of vinyl LPs, according to analysis by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) of Official Charts Company data.

Sales of vinyl albums increased to 168,296 units in the first half of 2011, compared with 108,307 in the same period of 2010.

Significantly consumers pay £16.30 for an average vinyl album compared with £7.82 for CD albums and £6.80 for digital albums.

Biggest-selling vinyl album for the first six months of 2011 was Radiohead's King of Limbs which sold 20,771 copies. This compares to just 1,446 copies sold by the best-selling title in the first six months of 2010, the vinyl edition of Paul Weller's Wake Up The Nation.

The other major contributor was April's Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record shops, which features many exclusive vinyl releases.

Kim Bayley, Director General of ERA, said, "Vinyl may still be a niche format, but it is growing fast. Whether it is the "warmer" sound many music fans appreciate, the large-scale artwork of a 12" sleeve or its sheer retro appeal, vinyl seems to be capturing the imagination of buyers despite the fact it typically costs twice as much as a CD containing exactly the same music."

The UK numbers follow hot on the heels of figures from Nielsen which showed vinyl sales up 41% in the US in the same period.

2010 marked the fourth successive year of growth in vinyl album sales in the UK.

Said Bayley, "Much of the focus in the music industry has been on cutting prices, partly in response to the rise of internet piracy. The success of vinyl shows music buyers will pay a premium if we deliver them a package they really love."

Source: Official Charts Company

ENDS

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