Record Store Day UK sales up 60% on last year; 200,000 units shifted in the USA

Record numbers: In the UK as in the USA, sales of CD’s and vinyl from independent record shops have seen a huge increase on last year.

It’s been clear for some weeks now that this year’s Record Store Day would be the biggest yet. Confirmed a bonafide success last Saturday, the residual feel-good factor has today been bolstered by the first reports that the increased media coverage of the extended vinyl love-in has also translated into cold, hard sales.

As MusicWeek report, album sales in the UK were up a steep 60% on last year, with single sales rising 20%. The average customer spend across participating shops was £45 and eight of the top 10 vinyl sales this week have been confirmed as exclusive Record Store Day releases by the Official Charts Company.

ERA (Entertainment Retailers Association) chairman Paul Quirk said “Record Store Day reached a new level this year. What is clear is that it is the stores that have done the most in terms of organising gigs and special events which have seen the highest sales.”

Things look just as rosy across the Atlantic, with USA Today reporting that an astonishing 200,000 vinyl records were sold in the week of Record Store Day, a 36% increase on the previous year.

The top vinyl sellers in the States were Fall Out Boy’s Save Rock and Roll and The Flaming Lips’ The Terror, shifting over 4,000 copies each; an increase of over 500 on the Black Keys’ El Camino which was last year’s favourite.