record-store-day-vinyls

Publishing their third quarterly report, Nielsen Music have presented their latest sales figures diagnosing the health of the music economy over the past nine months.

As The Vinyl Factory reports: “While both physical and digital album sales were down 13.3% and 19.5% respectively, vinyl sales continued to grow, adding 3.1% to 2016’s total of 9.07 million units. Closing in on the 10 million mark with the three months still remaining in 2017, the total of 9.35 million units sold gives vinyl 16% of the physical album sales market – its highest share in the post-CD era.”

And, unsurprisingly, it’s the Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band leading the pack, having sold 40,000 units in the year of it’s landmark 50th anniversary.

Streaming, however, remains dominant, as total on-demand streams reach 442.44 billion – up an impressive 40.5% on the first three quarters of 2016.

Owen Jones

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