2013 set to be biggest sales year for vinyl in over a decade

Daft Punk and David Bowie are responsible for the UK’s highest levels of vinyl sales in over a decade.

Sales of vinyl records in the UK have doubled in 2013 so far, spurred by the popularity of Daft Punk’s LP Random Access Memories and Bowie’s The Next Day.

According to figures from music industry body BPI, almost 550,000 vinyl albums have sold so far this year and more than 700,000 albums are predicted to be sold by the end of the year.

This would mark the biggest sales year for the format since 2001.

“The LP is back in the groove,” BPI’s chief executive Geoff Taylor told The Guardian. “We’re witnessing a renaissance for records – they’re no longer ’retromania’ and are becoming the format of choice for more and more music fans.”

There are signs of the resurgence this side of the equator as well.

ARIA data released earlier this year showing vinyl album sales in Australia had increased by more than 70 per cent in 2012 while single sales were up more than 50 per cent on 2011 figures.

Surprisingly the digital era of music is also playing a role in the revival of vinyl, with many bands offering digital download codes along with the sale of the LP.

Vinyl still remains a small niche in the music market, accounting for just 0.8 per cent of UK album sales, but the BPI estimates that LP sales this year could reach £12 million, with £2m of that having been spent on a single day: Record Store Day on April 20, dedicated to the celebration of independent record stores.