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Good news everyone...
The album may not have blown everyone away but Radiohead's King of Limbs, has sold 20,771 copies on vinyl, and has contributed to the resurgence of vinyl LP sales in the UK. This is all according to analysis by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) of Official Charts Company data.
Overall, vinyl album sales increased to 168,296 sales in the first half of 2011, compared with 108,307 in the same period of 2010. Interestingly, the average price of a vinyl LP is now £16.30 compared with £7.82 for CD albums and £6.80 for digital albums.
Kim Bayley, Director General of ERA, said:
“Vinyl may still be a niche format, but it is growing fast. Whether it is the “warmer” sound many music fans appreciate, the large-scale artwork of a 12” sleeve or its sheer retro appeal, vinyl seems to be capturing the imagination of buyers despite the fact it typically costs twice as much as a CD containing exactly the same music...Much of the focus in the music industry has been on cutting prices, partly in response to the rise of internet piracy. The success of vinyl shows music buyers will pay a premium if we deliver them a package they really love.”
And here's a list of big-selling albums which were unsurprisingly the biggest sellers on vinyl...
Top 10 Vinyl Albums Jan-June 2011
- Radiohead - The King of Limbs
- Beady Eye - Different Gear Still Speeding
- Adele - 21
- Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See
- Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys
- Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
- Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
- Noah & The Whale - Last Night On Earth
- Vaccines - What Did You Expect From The Vaccines
- Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Source: Official Charts Company
...wait, wot, there's no Jessie J in this chart?
Some footnote stats of note:
- King of Limbs sales blow the 1,446 copies sold by the best-selling title in the first six months of 2010, which was the vinyl edition of modfather Paul Weller’s Wake Up The Nation.
- The other major contributor was April’s Record Store Day, the annual celebration of independent record shops, which features many exclusive vinyl releases.
- The UK numbers follow hot on the heels of figures from Nielsen which showed vinyl sales up 41% in the US in the same period.
- 2010 marked the fourth successive year of growth in vinyl album sales in the UK.
Photo via Flickr
