Official figures released by record labels’ association the BPI show that 2019 marked a 12thconsecutive year of growthin the sales of vinyl in the UK. Liam Gallagher’s Why Me? Why Not. was the most in-demand title, selling over 29,000 copies. 2019’s Top 10 albums include high-profile reissues such as The Beatles’ Abbey Road and Joy Division’s anniversary reissue of Unknown Pleasures.
Predictably, the Top 10 was also blessed withthe continued presence of uber-heritage albums Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon (withthe former selling more than 25,000 copies on vinyl in 2019). Vinyl albums now account for one in every eight LPs bought, with4.3 million purchased in 2019, an increase of 4.1 per cent on the previous year and a rise of over 2,000 per cent on the format’s low point in 2007. When asked, Vanessa Higgins, CEO of Regent Street Records, and an independent member of the BPI Council, said: “It’s wonderful to see the continued growthof vinyl, which shows fans still love a physical, tangible music artefact in their hands. Personally, I would love to see a rebirthin the British manufacture of these products, supported by modern technology and government, to match the rediscovered UK physical market and the untapped potential that still lies there.”