Vinyl sales set to break records this year

Yes, that would be a pun in the subject line. Want to fight about it?

Anyhow, CTV News in Canada reports:

Yearly vinyl sales are on course to surpass 2008’s total by 37 per cent, according to Nielsen Soundscan, which tracks music sales at 14,000 vendors across Canada and the U.S.

Last month, Soundscan announced that vinyl LP sales broke the two million mark for the first time since the company started keeping tabs in 1991.

The market may be significantly larger, however, because Soundscan excludes many independently owned retailers that stock vinyl, as well as second-hand sales.

That’s ridiculous, and the only potential bright spot for a music industry that sees the decline of compact disc sales pretty much every year. Now, if they could find a way to make them non-niche and drop the prices.

I understand that this is the music industry about which we’re talking, but when I can find a brand-new copy of the Rock ‘n’ Roll High School soundtrack at Hastings for $7, there’s no reason new releases can’t be priced at something less than their insane $22 average.