How misleading can the labels and the RIAA be?
You’ve seen the headlines about vinyl sales surpassing CD sales.
And how vinyl sales brought in $232.1 million and CDs brought in $129.9 million.
But the report also mentions that Physical Album Sales including vinyl is at 27.9 million units and that vinyl on its own has moved just 8.2 million units.
So the other 19.7 units are CD sales. I guess vinyl hasn’t surpassed CD’s in sales, but it has surpassed it in revenue, which the headlines fail to mention.
$232.1 million divided by 8.2 million units is $28 per vinyl record. Which sounds about right on average.
$129.9 million divided by 19.7 million units is $6.60 per CD, which also sounds right.
What’s your preference?
I don’t really have one anymore, except the price being right. I will not pay more than $20 for a vinyl record unless it’s included in a deluxe box set. Then again, I’m happy paying less than $20 for a Family Streaming account.
destroyerofharmony 
Hey DoH. I prefer vinyl for the bigger artwork. Last purchased records for me were used Manilla Rhoad’s Deluge for 2500 yen. I also got a used copy of Queensrÿche’s The Warning for less but I’m not sure what it was. So if my conversion calculator is correct I paid about 34 AUD.
I’m fine with cd’s but prefer the LP for the art.
I love the vinyl for the bigger artwork as well but I’ve also come across some awesome CD booklets as well.
Pete
I like both. For artists from the 90’s or later that didn’t really release vinyl, I take the CD, for artist from earlier I take vinyl. For brand new artists that have vinyl, I’m doing vinyl as well. And I do apple music for those I don’t like enough to buy either plus for playing in the car.
I’m more or less the same Jon except I use Spotify. I do buy vinyl these days as well but only when it comes with a super deluxe package I’ve purchased which also has the CD with it.
It’s either purchasing iTunes and owning it or buying vinyl. iTunes is great for purchasing all these deluxe sets at a decent price as there is no way I could afford them at the physical cost.
I go over $20 for a sealed album almost always.
Speaking of which I have UFO’s Strangers In The Night preordered on vinyl from Amazon.
Nice. Is the Strangers album with extras or just a reissue?
The CD version has 8 different live shows and the vinyl is a straight reissue.
The CD set is massive.
I love vinyl but it is getting too expensive. Some 2LP sets are going for $80 meanwhile it is $12.99 on CD. It’s a no brainer for me.
It looks like your prices are the same as ours. Single vinyl goes for $50, double vinyl on average is $80. There is this deluxe Appetite vinyl going for $360. It has the album on double vinyl, plus a few CDs of bonus material and a 7 inch single. I offered $100 to the shop owner a few years ago and he laughed at me, saying he’ll sell at this price quickly and every time I walk in, I ask him if he’s ready to sell at a $100 as it’s still there with the same price.
He’s probably dug his heels in now, lol. Yeah, the prices have just been going higher. Supply and demand, I guess. That’s OK. I’ll let the other people pay for it.