UK lockdown showed an increase in spending on home entertainment last year with digital services like Netflix, Amazon and Spotify becoming even more popular. As per The Guardian: “The physical and digital music market rose 6.8% to £1.5bn, with Lewis Capaldi producing the most popular album of the year of the pandemic, with total sales of 455,900”. Music streaming rose by 15% as: ”Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music pushed the overall music market to £1.5bn – the highest level since 2006”.
Even though the music streaming market boomed, the purchase of physical entertainment products went down: “Total sales of physical entertainment products fell by 10.7% last year, from £1.4bn to £1.2bn. In just a decade the physical entertainment market has shrunk by three-quarters”, informing The Guardian.
There is however one exemption – the good old vinyl. Income of vinyl records in the UK increased by 30% last year and it’s the highest since 1989: “As fans unable to attend live music because of pandemic restrictions spent their spare cash on building up their record collections. The number of vinyl records sold, led by classics such as Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours alongside new releases from Harry Styles and Kylie Minogue, also hit a three-decade high of 4.8m last year”.
Geoff Taylor from British Phonographic Industry says: “Vinyl income is now on track to overtake CDs for the first time since 1987, when Rick Astley, T’Pau and Pet Shop Boys topped the charts”. He continues: “Vinyl’s exceptional performance despite retail lockdowns confirms its role as a long-term complement to music streaming, 2021 is likely to be the year in which revenues from LPs overtake those from CDs for the first time in well over three decades – since 1987. In addition to the immediacy and convenience of streaming, fans want to get closer to the artists they love by owning a tangible creation”.
List of best selling vinyl in 2020 is as follows:
- Fleetwood Mac – Rumours
- Oasis – What’s The Story, Morning Glory?
- Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
- Nirvana – Nevermind
- Harry Styles – Fine Line
- Kylie Minogue – Disco
- Queen – greatest Hits
- AC/DC – Power Up
- Arctic Monkeys – Live at the Royal Albert Hall
- Idles – Ultra Mono
