Hastings also sells used vinyl, as do practically all indie retailers, and those sales don’t show up in Nielsen SoundScan nor do the record labels have a handle on the size of that market. But smaller chains like Newbury Comics have been in on vinyl from the get-go too and its vinyl selection ranges from 2,500 to 6,000 SKUs in its larger stores, which comprise about one-third of the chain’s 27 outlets. Label executives say that Hastings was the first chain retailer to jump on the vinyl phenomenon started by indie retailers. Meanwhile, among large chains, the Hastings Entertainment chain gets the nod for having the deepest selection of vinyl carrying anywhere from 800 to 1,000 titles. Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Jack White’s Vinyl Sales Still Sizzle, Adele’s ‘21’ Nears 11 Million Sales & More.Spoon Scores Top 10 Debut With Unusual Vinyl Promotion.

What’s Up With Thom Yorke’s Mysterious White Vinyl?.Moreover, major label distribution executives also say that Barnes & Noble is entering the vinyl marketplace once again, plannind to add the format to many of its music locations. Those accounts include the Guitar Center chain, which has been carrying turntables for eight years but began testing vinyl records last year, now carries a mix of classic and new titles in all 266 of its stores and Whole Foods, which already has it in 19 stores but plans to add vinyl to another 80 stores, bringing the format to 100 of its 350 locations by November. In addition to accounts like Urban Outfitters, who appear to be riding the wave created by indie retailers, other accounts are looking to get into the act, according to distribution executives. “Indies are driving the format’s growth and everyone else is picking up on what they do.” “Independent retailers are still the backbone of vinyl’s growth, and they are still selling tons of it,” says one major label distribution executive. In the U.S., the latter group is even bigger than Alliance and collectively accounts for about 50% of all vinyl sales. compared to the 300 or so they have in this country.īeyond retail, the largest vinyl account, by far, is Alliance Entertainment, a wholesaler which sells vinyl to accounts like Best Buy, Barnes & Noble and Trans World Entertainment, among other chains, as well as indie store owners.

market, label sales and distribution executives point out that Amazon has a much larger music presence internationally than does Urban Outfitters, which has about 50 stores outside the U.S. While Billboard’s survey covered the U.S. Accounts like Audiophile, Acoustic Sounds and Newbury Comics each have market shares between 1.5% and 2%. Rounding out the top five retail accounts selling vinyl, the next-largest is Hastings Entertainment with 2.8% of the market Hot Topic with 2.4% and Trans World Entertainment with 2.2%. The Story Behind 3-Inch Vinyl Titles for Record Store Day 2019Ī Billboard analysis shows that Amazon is the largest seller of vinyl in the U.S., with about 12.3% market share, followed by Urban Outfitters with 8.1% market share.

Urban vinyl store