Is this a nostalgia bubble ready to go ‘pop’? After posting breakneck, 39.3 percent gains in 2011, vinyl sales may simply be losing steam. Indications are coming from just-released, US-based stats from Nielsen Soundscan, which show marked decreases in both absolute and percentage sales gains.
These are first-half (January through June) comparisons. In 2011, first-half vinyl album sales topped 1.9 million, a gain of 600,000 (41 percent). In the current year, sales reached 2.2 million during the first half, a gain of 300,000 (14.2 percent).