LP Sales are Still Going Up

LP sales chart 2023
According to Statistica, US sales of LP record albums increased about 14% in 2023 to about 49 million. The same site claims that 82,000 turntables were sold in the US in 2021. 2023 was the second year in a row during which LP records outsold CDs. But people still do not seem to be listening to their records. In one 2023 survey, 50% of LP buyers reported that they do not own a record player or turntable. The statistics suggest that buyers are not primarily attracted to the aural characteristics or physical form of the LP but rather something else, perhaps album art or merely the appeal of LP ownership and collecting. Meanwhile, Billboard reports that less than 500,000 albums were sold on cassette in 2023. Sales figures on other formats are not generally available, but anecdotal evidence suggests that there are recordings being released on various other media such as 8-track tapes. Cassette releases may be driven by consumer preference for the way they sound, although that seems unlikely to be the main reason. More likely, it it nostalgia. The same article in Billboard notes that the most popular cassette release in 2022 was the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack (2014), based on a movie that featured music on cassettes. Yet a mere 18,000 copies were sold. Streaming continues to be the most popular way to purchase music by a very wide margin. Nevertheless, one optimistic release on the Elcaset format, claiming (probably incorrectly) to be the first ever commercial release on the obscure tape format, is currently available for sale. That recording, “Blue Wicked,” by Jeremy Heiden is also available on DCC, cassette, LP, MiniDisc, and CD.