Vinyl sales growth slows in the US

But 17.8million sold remains a recent record.

Vinyl sales slowed in 2016 in the United States, posting growth of 1.8% compared to the 38% year-on-year average rise between 2012 and 2015.

While this suggests the format’s rapid growth in popularity may be levelling out somewhat, vinyl still remains on a significantly stronger trajectory than CD, with sales falling another 20.9% in 2016.

In the past, the strength of vinyl sales has been measured against its competitors in ad-supported streaming, with revenues from YouTube and Spotify famously falling short of vinyl sales in recent years. This year however, revenue from ad-supported streaming surpassed than of vinyl rising to $469 million.

In the wider industry, streaming overtook downloads, CDs and vinyl combined for the first time, with revenue for the U.S. recorded music business posting double digital growth (11.4%) for the first time since 1998.

[via Billboard]