Statistics of music sales 2020: vinyl continued to grow, cassettes doubled
The misfortune — in the sense of the Covid 19 pandemic helped, according to the saying, sales of analog media in the UK. However, the growing popularity of vinyl discs can be considered a continuation of the 13-year trend, which was noted in the British phonographic industry (BPI). In 2020, 4.8 million records were sold — almost 10% more than in 2019.
The figures are already close to the figures of the early 90s, when vinyl last tried to resist the blows of 12-cm laser discs. In the US, the data is even more revealing: the Recording Industry Association RIAA reported that record sales surpassed CD sales for the first time since the 80s.
At the same time, in the UK, revenues from vinyl sales doubled the total figures for streaming music video. And if the majority of listeners-80% – still preferred streaming audio, then increasingly this is supplemented by the purchase of a vinyl disc — “to be”. We have already written about the fact that almost half of all purchased records for a long time lie with the new owners unopened.
Another analog audio recording medium — cassettes-showed an impressive 50% growth this year. In absolute numbers, this is not a lot: in the UK, they were sold 157,000 pieces. But this is the highest figure since 2003, when 243,000 cassettes were sold in the country.
As for the charts of vinyl sold in 2020, among the most popular records of the past years is the album “Rumours”, recorded in 1977 by Fleetwood Mac, which this year celebrated its half-century anniversary. Oasis, Amy Winehouse and Nirvana are also featured. Of the current musicians on vinyl discs in the past year, Harry Styles (Harry Styles), Kylie Minogue (Kylie Minogue), AC/DC and Idles were popular.
