Turn on to vinyl revival

Cape Town record store Mabu Vinyl has long been leading the local vinyl revolution and got a taste of fame since 2013 via the Oscar-winning documentary Searching For Sugarman. Photo: Jason Boud

Cape Town record store Mabu Vinyl has long been leading the local vinyl revolution and got a taste of fame since 2013 via the Oscar-winning documentary Searching For Sugarman. Photo: Jason Boud

Published Apr 17, 2015

Share

London – It’s time to forget digital downloads and dust off those turntables, as vinyl music enjoys a major revival.

Last year, more than a million albums were sold on vinyl for the first time in almost two decades after seven years of growth. And with sales expected to hit 2 million this year, the UK’s first official weekly vinyl chart has been established.

The inaugural top spot in the album rankings is claimed by Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

The former Oasis frontman’s new band – which has also taken the top two places in the singles chart – released the album Chasing Yesterday last month.

Classic releases by Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and David Bowie have all also landed in the current top ten.

The Official Vinyl Charts were released yesterday ahead of Record Store Day on Saturday.

Martin Talbot, Official Charts Company chief executive, said: ‘With vinyl album sales up by almost 70 per cent already this year, vinyl junkies could well have snapped up two million units by the end of this year – an extraordinary number if you consider sales were one tenth of that just six years ago.

‘This underlines the continuing resurgence of this much-loved format, whether you’re a fan of Arctic Monkeys, Noel Gallagher, Led Zeppelin or David Bowie.’

Last year saw almost 1.3 million vinyl albums sold, compared to 56 million CDs and about 6 000 cassette tapes.

Vinyl’s popularity hit an all-time high in 1975, when 92 million LPs were sold. It was the most popular format for music until 1985, when it was overtaken by cassettes.

Daily Mail

Related Topics: