In UK Last Week, Vinyl Sales Outpaced Digital Downloads

[Mandolin Picker]

Last week we had the story about vinyl record sales being at their highest since 1988. Today comes a story from the UK indicating that vinyl record sales exceeded digital download sales in the UK.

 

From AdWeek

"If you thought the vinyl record's comeback story was more buzz than business, consider the latest developments from across the pond. The U.K.-based Entertainment Retailers Association, or ERA, said Monday that Britons spent 2.4 million pounds on the old-school wax last week while only doling out 2.1 million pounds for digital downloads."

 

This may speak more to the decrease in digital downloads and more to the rise of streaming music.

 

Full article at http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/vinyl-records-are-now-outselling-digital-downloads-uk-174972

 

[Anderton]

I think you have a point. Digital downloads have been on the decline for a while. I think what this may indicate is that some people want to own music...they don't want it just living on a cloud somewhere. CD sales remain strong in Japan, for example. And if you're going to own something, what's more satisfying...a physical object with an album cover, or a song that sits on your hard drive, using DRM that may or may not make it through the next decade?

[MikeRivers]

I think you have a point. Digital downloads have been on the decline for a while. I think what this may indicate is that some people want to own music...they don't want it just living on a cloud somewhere.

 

 

This doesn't compute with the vinly sales statistic. Digital downloads are down because people are listening to more of their music by streaming (from the cloud somewhere). To me this says they don't care about owning music in a tangible form when they can grab it off the virtual shelf any time they want to hear.

 

Vinyl sales are increasing because it's a fad - a fad with some real values, for sure, but I it's a rich folks fad. Vinyl is expensive. Streaming is cheap. People who listen to music on their phones and computers have discovered the convenience of streaming sources so they have no need to store all of those bytes - virtual reality is coming along and they want to have plenty of space to download it until streaming speeds can support it.

 

 

[Anderton]

Well note that I said some people want to own music, and if that's the case, then I think those who do would want something tangible instead of virtual.