US vinyl sales rise 22% in first half of 2022

US vinyl sales rise by 22% in the first half of 2022, according to RIAA’s mid-year music revenue report.

The number of vinyl records shipped has also risen by 15.7%, with 21.8 million records sent out, compared to 18.8 million over the same period in 2021.

US recorded music revenue figures rose overall by 9% to $7.7 billion, with streaming revenues from paid subscriptions, ad-supported services, and other formats amounting to $6.5 billion during this period. The number of paid subscriptions to streaming services increased to an eye-watering 90 million.

Music streaming still accounts for the majority of music revenue, taking an 84% slice of total revenue, compared to physical at 10%, however, the vinyl sales increase of 22% still outstrips both recorded music and streaming revenue.

“Music lovers clearly can’t get enough of the high-quality sound and tangible connection to artists vinyl delivers and labels have squarely met that demand with a steady stream of exclusives, special reissues, and beautifully crafted packages and discs,” commented RIAA’s Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier.

Read the full RIAA report here.

This month, vinyl overtook PlayStation games as the UK’s second best-selling physical entertainment format. As reported by Complete Music Update, the UK’s Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) have revealed that the sale of vinyl albums is bringing in more revenue than the sale of physical format PlayStation 4 and 5 games combined. Only sales of Nintendo Switch games have brought in more money than vinyl in 2022 so far.

Glasgow was recently revealed to be the vinyl-collecting capital of the UK, according to a new study of collecting habits by The Royal Mint.

Revisit DJ Mag’s 2021 feature on whether manufacturing delays and increasing costs might spell the end of the vinyl revival, at least for small and independent record labels, here.