News

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.