Nielsen Music: Vinyl Sales Of Current Albums Up 37% Through March

Vinyl Best-Seller

The beleaguered music industry needs all the good news it can get, so NIELSEN MUSIC's latest research into vinyl's resurgence certainly qualifies on that count on the eve of RECORD STORE DAY.

Because of continued demand from music aficionados who relish the long-form album, as well as a groundswell surrounding RSD, vinyl remains a viable way for music fans to listen to both new and classic albums.

According to NIELSEN, vinyl album sales in the U.S. have grown a whopping 260% since 2009. Last year, vinyl unit sales totaled 9.2 million, up from 6.1 million in 2013. And album sales between JANUARY and MARCH of this year were 53% higher than during the comparable period last year, driven by a 66% increase in catalog album sales (released at least 18 months prior) during the same period.

And it's not just older product that's moving on vinyl. Sales of current releases on vinyl are up 37% in the first three months of this year as well.

The Top 5 vinyl sellers since 2010: THE BEATLES, "Abbey Road" (172k), MUMFORD & SONS, "Sigh No More" (110k), BON IVER, "For Emma, Forever Ago" (102k), JACK WHITE, "Lazaretto" (94k) and ARCTIC MONKEYS, "AM" (89k).

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