Following outselling CDs for the first time in decades in recent years, the latest Billboard music consumption report has revealed that vinyl record sales have dropped 33.3 percent in the US in 2024.
UPDATE (10/16, 9:13 a.m. ET): A representative from Luminate, the data firm that provides the information for Billboard's music consumption report, has clarified that a recent change in methodology renders comparing 2024 vinyl sales to previous years inaccurate.
Back in April, Luminate expanded how it counts record sales from indie retailers, collecting physical music sales from StreetPulse — a music industry data provider that receives daily sales metrics directly from retailers. Excluding this data, Luminate reported that vinyl sales in the US have actually increased by 6.2 percent when comparing both 2023 and 2024 activity through Q3.
The "vinyl revival" has seen annual consumption rates for the format on the rise consistently over the last decade — but compared to the 34.9 million units sold in 2023, records moved only 23.3 million this year. However, it's not just vinyl: CD sales are also down 19.5 percent from 2023 after being up for the first time in 17 years in 2022, and digital albums have seen an 8.3 percent decrease. Accordingly, album sales are down 23.3 percent across the board.
Elsewhere, the data showed that record sales are still outpacing CDs, and audio on-demand streams have increased by seven percent. Interestingly, catalogue releases — music that was put out more than 18 months ago — have bested new releases in 2024.
The vinyl boom finally coming to an end is probably not the reason for the not-insignificant decrease (that's a full third!), though; it likely has much more to do with the rising cost of records. Between inflation and the general cost of living crisis, people are shelling out $40-plus for an LP less and less, with box sets and reissues being priced even higher.
We also know that records aren't exactly cheap or easy (not to mention eco-friendly) to produce, with numerous supply chain issues and production delays having cropped up over the past few years — Adele's 30 album, in particular, put major pressure on pressing plants amid the worldwide vinyl shortage in 2021. Jack White has called on major labels to make their own plants to help alleviate the strain, with his Third Man Records opening its own plant in Detroit in 2017 and Metallica following suit in 2023.