Vinyl Sells Big

In 2021, U.S. vinyl albums outsold CDs for the first time in 30 years, even though CD sales increased, too.

According to data from the MRC and Billboard, 38.3 per cent of all album sales in the country last year were in vinyl format, accounting for over 50 per cent of all physical album sales (41.72 million sales out of a total of 82.79 million).

2021 vinyl album sales went up by  51.4 per cent to 41.72 million compared to 2020.

Vinyl is more expensive than other formats, so who’s buying LPs? The most devoted fans of artists like Adele, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo want these large physical tokens.

More:

“Vinyl outsold CDs in the US for the first time in decades,” Scott Nover, Quartz

“As superstars cash in on vinyl LP boom, small labels and manufacturers struggle to meet demand,” Randall Roberts, Los Angeles Times

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Image (“Leo’s DJ, after Da Vinci”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Adele Is Back … In a Skinny Little Box.

Talented vocalist and songwriter Adele just released a recording of a new suite of original songs called 25 to great acclaim. It’s a bestseller even though it can’t be heard on Spotify or other streaming services. Some fans have downloaded the digital album from the Web, but many others have purchased it in solid form, as something called a Compact Disc or CD.

CD buyers receive a small square flat thing with Adele’s photo on it containing a round flat CD, an audio recording format popular from the 1980s until about 2004. There’s also a printed booklet with photos of the artist singing, playing the piano, and biting her fingernails (though not concurrently) and printed credits.

While Adele appeals to people of all ages, many younger fans have never owned an audio CD before and may be puzzled by the antique technology. Never fear, Buzzfeed’s Katie Notopoulos has written an illustrated guide “For Those Who Bought Adele’s CD And Don’t Know How To Play It.” Is it too early for Nobel Prize nominations?