Vinyl overtakes Playstation games as UK’s second best-selling physical entertainment format
Vinyl has overtaken 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.
With over 19 million vinyl records sold in the US alone as of July 2022, and sales of records in the UK hitting a 30-year high last year, the report is a clear indication of the continued resurgence of the format. According to ERA, sales of vinyl records has brought in £80.9 million so far this year – a figure that is up from £72.1 million at the same point last year. PlayStation 4 and 5 games were also up, but only slightly to £79.6 million from £74.7 million.
In a statement, ERA CEO Kim Bayley said: “Vinyl’s rise and rise seems unstoppable. For a 74 year old analogue format to eclipse the digital-age technology of games platforms is quite extraordinary. Ten years into its long climb back to favour, the vinyl revival is most definitely here to stay”.
The report also found that vinyl continues to out-perform CDs, with sales of the latter bringing in £68.9 million so far in 2022 – a drop of 8.1% than this time last year. It comes eight months after it was revealed that vinyl sales in 2021 topped CDs in the US for the first time in 30 years.
Earlier this week, Glasgow was 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.
