Vinyl Sales Hit Record Highs

According to Nielsen SoundScan (a media practice that monitors entertainment sales worldwide), vinyl and digital sales both reached record highs this year. The vinyl industry is everything but dying down, with a predicted overall sale of around 2.8 million for 2009 (= almost a 50% raise compared to the 1.9 million in 2008). A benchmark since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.

Fun fact: 70% of all vinyl sales are rock albums.

Vinyls, however, make up for less than 1% of overall sales. Digital tracks are predicted to pass the 1 billion mark, not including digital albums, which already surpassed last years 65 million in mid November.

Billboard.biz commented on this global sales boost:

"The two trends - digital sales on one hand, vinyl records on the other - could not be more different. For all the efficiencies of digital music's distribution and supply chain, vinyl counters with an equally expensive and inefficient process. Yet, the two are on the rise.
There is no doubt digital formats represents the future of recorded music. iTunes is just the beginning. New types of digital services promise to change how consumers acquire and experience music. Yet the concurrent rise of digital and vinyl tells us this: Through their purchases of vinyl, a small yet dedicated group of music fans are showing artists and labels that digital does not fill all their needs."

So contrary to the general opinion, the music market seems as flourishing as ever. Sure, there will always be people that take advantage of the almost limitless possibilities of downloading music for free. But true fans and people with a conscience will use these possibilities for evaluatory purposes and buy the track afterward - if they like it. That, in my opinion, is fair enough. And, contrary to the millions of tracks on youtube that are falsely labeled "HQ", buying the music you like is the only way that ensures the highest possible quality!