News

Did Amazon Announce That Vinyl Sales Were "Up 745 percent" Since 2008?

Michael Fremer  |  Sep 21, 2013

We are not sure if Amazon actually announced a 745 percent vinyl sales increase. The amazon hyperlink associated with the end gadget.com story takes you to "Amazon.co.uk" the UK Amazon affiliate that made an announcement, but it was not that vinyl sales were up 745 percent though it was about a huge increase in vinyl sales.

I contacted the press dept. of amazon.co.uk and they told me they never claimed a "745 percent increase" in vinyl sales. They did send me the details of their findings, however but first, here's what I sent to the "journalist" who wrote the original endgadget story, subject line: "745 percent vinyl sales increase"

Really Brian? From where did you pull that number ( I won't say 'your butt')..oops I just did!

First of all, it was not "Amazon" that announced something. It was amazon.co.uk and your story should have noted that.

It is not enough to provide a hyperlink labeled "amazon" that leads to amazon.co.uk

Secondly, I contacted amazon.co.uk and they have NO IDEA from where that percent figure derives.

So perhaps you can tell me?

I might even send you an 8-track player.

Sincerely,

Michael Fremer

editor, analogplanet.com

I heard back from Mr. Heater, who insists that the 745% figure "was provided by Amazon". I asked him for an Amazon contact or some kind of back-up for the assertion but as yet haven't heard anything.

Now back to our write-up of the original erroneous story, after which you will find some sustainable facts supplied by amazon.co.uk.

Amazon.com's announcement that vinyl sales have soared 745 percent since 2008 has been reported in various media outlets. One such story on endgadget.com is snidely headlined "Amazon vinyl sales up 745 percent since 2008, 8-track mulling comeback".

Unable to witness the pleasures of others, crabby MP3 lovers have posted all kinds of utterly stupid and genuinely annoying responses filled with misinformation about who we are and why we like records. So of course I responded to the most stupid of the comments. Go read. You'll enjoy. Almost as much as you'll enjoy the responses to my responses!

And of course contribute your own comments!

This is the press release's headline:

UK Sees Major Vinyl Revival as Amazon.co.uk Sales of the Classic Format Grow by More Than 100% in 2013 Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’ is best-selling vinyl since 1999, Adele, 21 is the best-selling vinyl in the Midlands, the South and the East in the last decade, whilst in the Borders The Smiths are number one Rock trumps pop and dance as most popular genre amongst vinyl buyers, accounting for over 55% of Amazon.co.uk vinyl purchases in 2013....Following steady growth since 2006, 2013 has seen a major vinyl revival with sales at Amazon.co.uk up by more than 100% compared to this time last year.

The top 20 vinyl best-sellers on Amazon.co.uk since 1999 are:

Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
Adele, 21
Amy Winehouse, Back to Black
David Bowie, The Next Day
Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon
David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars
Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon (30th Anniversary Edition)
Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
The Beatles, Love Me Do (50th Anniversary Limited Edition 7” Single)
Radiohead, In RainbowsRadiohead, In Rainbows
Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
Bon Iver, For Emma Forever Ago
Radiohead, Ok Computer
Micah P. Hinson, Micah P. Hinson & The Gospel of Progress…
PJ Harvey, Let England Shake
Kate Bush, 50 Words for Snow
Alt-J, An Awesome Wave
The White Stripes, Elephant
The xx, xx

Rock may be "dead" on the radio, but according to amazon.co.uk:

"Rock music is by far the most popular genre amongst vinyl buyers, accounting for more than 55% of vinyl sales on Amazon.co.uk in 2012."

So far in 2013 these are the top 20 vinyl best-sellers

The top 20 vinyl best-sellers on Amazon.co.uk in 2013 to date are:

Daft Punk, Random Access Memories
David Bowie, The Next Day
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Push the Sky Away
Black Sabbath, 13
Queens of the Stone Age, Like Clockwork
Atoms for Peace, Amok
Vampire Weekend, Modern Vampires of the City
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours
Alt-J, An Awesome Wave
Led Zeppelin, Celebration Day
ron Maiden, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Iron Maiden, Somewhere in Time
Iron Maiden, Powerslave
Boards of Canada, Tomorrow’s Harvest
Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon
John Coltrane, Blue Train
National, Trouble Will Find Me
Iron Maiden, Live After Death
Iron Maiden, Maiden England ‘88
Nick Drake, Bryter Layter

How nice to see a Nick Drake album on a "best-sellers" list, even if it's at #20!

So now you have some actual facts. If Mr. Heater can provide back-up for the 745% figure we'll let you know. For now I'm skeptical.

COMMENTS
planarhead's picture
Submitted by planarhead on Sat, 2013-09-21 12:07

I think I would lose more brain cells reading Endgadget comments than if I were to free base a kilo of rock.

Jim Tavegia's picture
Submitted by Jim Tavegia on Sat, 2013-09-21 12:20

Why do those whose best meal is fast food chose to comment about 4 star dining. It is pointless. They will never get it. I would bet that for most of them that listening to music is the 2nd or 3rd thing they are doing...not the first. 

o0OBillO0o's picture
Submitted by o0OBillO0o on Sat, 2013-09-21 14:27

Michael,

Thank you for your vigilance and holding your ground amongst the hordes of internet trolls.  I enjoy(ed) your wit and candor, so much so I bought, 2011, a Project Debut III and your DVD.  Keep kicking ass.

Best,

Bill

avrcguy's picture
Submitted by avrcguy on Sat, 2013-09-21 15:07

I love your near tirelessness in the calling out of idiots in discussions like that. I would have given up the fight long ago. Your passion is admirable.

Seadog709's picture
Submitted by Seadog709 on Sat, 2013-09-21 16:19

Just arrived from Amazon.com this morning. 2 Day free ship. Beautiful packing...outstanding packing actually.

For rarer LPs, I order from Amazon UK.

 

 

 

vinyl listener's picture
Submitted by vinyl listener on Sat, 2013-09-21 16:23

... my last four Amazon US orders arrived in poor condition.

Kudos to Amazon for their liberal replacement policy but 3/4 of the replacements were no better than the originals.

Ditto on Amazon UK.

 

Seadog709's picture
Submitted by Seadog709 on Sat, 2013-09-21 17:36

The Grateful Dead Sunshine Daydream arrived double boxed. The inner carton was an exact fit to box set and the outer carton was 3x the size of inner & stuffed with packing material.

I have had to return CDs on occasion but so far no LPS.

avrcguy's picture
Submitted by avrcguy on Sat, 2013-09-21 21:40

I've had a number of albums from Amazon arrive lightly damaged. The packaging actually seems pretty good, but it would appear that getting shuffled through UPS along with much larger/heavier packages is what really takes it's toll. In contrast I've ordered a number of times from juno.co.uk, who uses far lighter/thinner packing materials, but get's delivered through the USPS, and I have not once had a problem. 

Anxietyprone's picture
Submitted by Anxietyprone on Sat, 2013-09-21 17:40

Mikey, They see you as a manifestation of whatever leftover and still being resolved anger remains toward their parents. They are fighting you every step of the way but deep down they know you are right. Unfortunately, the poopoo is between their ears rather than in their ears. 

 

tnargs's picture
Submitted by tnargs on Sat, 2013-09-21 21:31

Maybe post what the actual numbers were. That would be more useful and interesting.

conjotter's picture
Submitted by conjotter on Sun, 2013-09-22 07:49

Keep up the good fight Mike. Hipsters can be so clueless.

By the way, judging by the picture in this article, it would appear that one of the reasons Amazon's vinyl sales are up is that you bought most of them!

Yikes.

How many records do you have in your collection, and how do you keep track of them?

Rick Tomaszewicz's picture
Submitted by Rick Tomaszewicz on Sun, 2013-09-22 09:45

Not to presume Mikey's response, I've found a simple Excel or Numbers spreadsheet works best along with rack storage in order of label and catalogue numbers.  I tried using Discogs, but for me it was like putting a square peg in a round hole. 

For classical music I've found the following fields do 95% of the job in a landscape orientation:

Label, Catalogue Number, Composer, Title, Artist, Conductor, Orchestra.  (Use your own abbreviations for long words if you find the fields too small for all details.)

Other genres could have fewer fields, allowing for the inclusion of performance, engineering and record condition ratings.

I enter every new aquistion as soon as I bring it home.  Of course it helps to have a computer in your sound room so you can quickly sort through the data by any field. I also email a copy to myself after I update it in the event my hard drives die. And, since my collection is large, and I can't remember every record or CD I have, I have a printed copy of just the catalogue numbers I carry with me when I go thrift store shopping.  These are sorted into numerical order and easy to reference when confronted by a boxes of mint vinyls every one else has missed.  (I see other guys in stores checking their collection on Discogs on their phones.)

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Mon, 2013-09-23 09:22

Are organized by race.

Rick Tomaszewicz's picture
Submitted by Rick Tomaszewicz on Mon, 2013-09-23 10:47

Mikey:

Whether witty sarcasim or actual truth, your response - and its terseness - was so good I almost spilled my coffee!  HTG I'm not trying to give you a hard time, but do you make a distinction between Swedes, Norwegians and Finns, or do you just lump them all together as Scandinavian composers?  Is this leftover razor sharp wit from your stand up days?

Seriously, thanks for putting a smile on my face today.

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Mon, 2013-09-23 15:17

Be lumped together with Abba, Aha, Bjork, Arvo Paart, Sigur Ros, Hives, Hellacopters, Raveonettes, Metallica (just the drum parts). 

Rick Tomaszewicz's picture
Submitted by Rick Tomaszewicz on Sun, 2013-09-22 09:25

Mikey:

Tell us about those odd shapes in the middle of your photo.  Are those home brew, DIY speaker cabinets?  There's got to be a great story of initial inspiration, growing frustration, eventual capitulation and sad abandonment there.  (If so, reminds of the DIY concrete speaker cabinets a friend of mine experimented with in his youth.)

BTW, have you found, as I have, that all those records provide great acoustical room treatment?

audiophile5000's picture
Submitted by audiophile5000 on Sun, 2013-09-22 13:36

Rick,

I could be wrong, but I think those speakers are Mikey's Maxx3's stowed away while he enjoys the Alexandria XLF's. We should all have that kind of storage problem. smiley

Keep up the great work, Mike!

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Mon, 2013-09-23 09:38

Are MAXX3 during XLF review. I ended up buying the XLFs... traded in MAXX3s, borrowed some $ for XLFs and took some from retirement funds. 

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Mon, 2013-09-23 09:40

yes, the wall of records produces "ideal decay time" according to an acoustician who measured the room.

knaggs45's picture
Submitted by knaggs45 on Sun, 2013-09-22 10:30

This is one of those situations where the only way to answer it is to experience the joy of records.I grew up with records(I'm 54),I remember my Parent's huge Hi-Fi in the basement with the cool red and green dials and tonearm that weighed about a pound.I,like many people,got into CD and then SACD,but I would always miss the experience of playing records...putting it on the TT,cueing it up and looking at the record cover while it's playing.

I got back into it about 8 months ago,and I was blown away by the quality.I had forgotten the bigger soundstage,depth, and yes,that somewhat comforting sound of the occasional click and pop!A MUCH more organic experience,it's hard to explain this to people used to digital audio,it just needs to be heard and experienced.

I love your work,Mike,and I always look forward to reading it.

PS:Thank GOD for the internet and YouTube,I never really knew how to set up a TT back in the day!!!,what a difference!

Martin's picture
Submitted by Martin on Sun, 2013-09-22 13:47

I just looked through all the comments and Michaels very direct comments on that article. Some of it is really funny. Michael, love your comments and saying it like it is, as always. 

The sheer ignorance of many of the people posting is staggering. It's amazing some of the comments, bear no resemblance to reality whatsoever. The ignorance wouldn't be so bad, but the arrogance on some of those comments, people putting forth their opinions as if it were fact. 

RrMusicMan60's picture
Submitted by RrMusicMan60 on Sun, 2013-09-22 14:23

Michael,

 I don't know if this is the appropriate forum, but I wanted to ask you a question. I am not like Amazon, and my vinyl collection is NOT up 700%. In fact I want to reduce my classical collection. Do you have any contacts in the Cleveland, Ohio area who might be interested?  If this is the wrong place to ask this question, is there a place on AnalogPlanet to do so?

Thanks

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Mon, 2013-09-23 09:42

I don't know anyone in Cleveland who might be interested but perhaps some readers might be depending upon what you have and how much you want for them. 

volvic's picture
Submitted by volvic on Thu, 2013-09-26 21:50

let me know what you got and more importantly willing to ship.  

Boxofsound's picture
Submitted by Boxofsound on Mon, 2013-09-30 21:38

Try Play It Again Sam on Madison in Lakewood. Lots of vintage audio equipment as well as LPs. Half Price Books will take your stuff but probably at a very disappointing low price.

Glotz's picture
Submitted by Glotz on Sun, 2013-09-22 20:07

I wonder how many of those posters really listen to music for its sake (or how many wouldn't actually lie about it...)

Thanks for sticking to your guns yet once again!  

YOU RULE!! 

PeterPani's picture
Submitted by PeterPani on Mon, 2013-09-23 12:14

Looking on the comments of the link I found remarks on LaserDisc. I have some discs and a good player with analog output from the analog track (yes! Laserdiscs had analog tracks, too!). I have even reeltoreel on 15ips, 2 track. But I must admit, nothing sounds better than a good analog track on Laserdisc. It is not easy to get the pure analog signal out of a player. But with bit of DIY it is possible. Up to today I never heard Rickie Lee Jones (I own all records on vinyl by her) better and more natural than from the analog track from the Live At The Wiltern Theatre LD! I wished that medium would still be alive. A sin that this format never developed into a pure analog music carrier. I guess a Laserdisc with only analog track could be the size of a CD today and the best analog carrier around...

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Mon, 2013-09-23 15:18

The laserdisc DTS track wipes the floor with DVD DTS track for some reason.

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Mon, 2013-09-23 15:18

The laserdisc DTS track wipes the floor with DVD DTS track for some reason.

unclebill's picture
Submitted by unclebill on Mon, 2013-09-23 23:40

after i type my comment most times i cant get it to stay. and i dont no how to log out. 

PLEASE HELP 

unclebill's picture
Submitted by unclebill on Mon, 2013-09-23 23:46

ok looks like the save button is how to post the comment. but i still need help to log out. 

schelti's picture
Submitted by schelti on Thu, 2013-09-26 10:22

I have 2 remarks:

1. The announcement was made by Amazon.co.uk (not by Amazon.com), it's about sales in the UK. See http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=251199&p=irol-vinylInfo

2. the 745% percentage is not mentioned in this article, and the graph "vinyl sales by year" doesn't have any numbers to it. I emailed amazon.co.uk about it, the reply I got was that I should take my information from the press release and about the percentage:

"I’m not sure where the 745% figure has come from"

It looks like somebody made that number up, and everbody else copied it.

Enjoy your vinyl anyway!

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Fri, 2013-09-27 09:58

I contacted Amazon.co.uk and they have no idea where that number came from. The story was poorly written by what today passed for "journalists". I got the "straight poop" and will be updating the story.

Michael Fremer's picture
Submitted by Michael Fremer on Fri, 2013-09-27 09:58

I contacted Amazon.co.uk and they have no idea where that number came from. The story was poorly written by what today passed for "journalists". I got the "straight poop" and will be updating the story.

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