Alex B Cann Column - 10th April 2025

Has the death of the physical format been exaggerated? In a world dominated by streaming services, 2024 saw a rare rise in overall physical music sales. Based on data from the Official Charts Company, sales of albums on physical formats rose for the first time since Wet Wet Wet's Love Is All Around dominated the hit parade in 1994.

Admittedly, it was only a 1.4% rise, but it certainly feels as though any increase swims against the tide these days. Perhaps we are rediscovering the magic of tangible products, sleeve notes, bonus tracks, and so on...or maybe I'm getting a bit carried away!

Admittedly, the increase in streaming eclipses this figure, at a staggering 11% rise. This comprises a total of 199.6 billion audio streams across 2024, and streaming now makes up 88.8% of consumption. There's a big conversation to be had about how the streaming pie is divided, but I wanted to focus on one format in particular...vinyl.

Since the Official Vinyl Chart was launched a decade ago, in recognition of the format's resurgence, sales have remained in pretty rude health. Vinyl sales grew last year by almost 10%, offsetting a fall in CD sales. When I started DJing weddings in 1995, I visited a few charity shops in York and bought a pile of cut-price 7-inch singles and albums for pennies. We're talking everything from Bruce Springsteen to Whitney Houston, Abba to Wham. Every wedding DJ's box of essential tricks. These days, wax is a lot more cherished than those bargain basement days, and the Official Charts Company has just released a Top 40 rundown of the most bought records in the last ten year.

Top of the vinyl surge is Taylor Swift, who has very cleverly mastered the format and is at number one with Midnights. She's also at number two with The Tortured Poets Department, and 1989 (Taylor's Version) sits at number four. Swift has just been named by Forbes as one of the richest people in the world, sitting alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kim Kardashian, with a cool two billion dollars in the bank from her recent Eras tour. My mum isn't much of a fan, and I doubt she tops the orange President's most-played list on Spotify, but she's a true phenomenon. She also makes generous donations to food banks in every city she plays live.

Elsewhere inside the five biggest selling vinyl albums, Harry Styles' excellent LP Harry's House and David Bowie's Legacy.. Both Styles and Bowie make a second Top 10 appearance, whilst Ed Sheeran has to settle for seventh place. Other acts with multiple appearances in the wider Top 40 include Arctic Monkeys, Adele, Sam Fender and Olivia Rodrigo.

There's a simple joy in listening to an album in the order in which the artist put it together, and I still maintain that vinyl has a rich, warm sound that streaming simply can't match. I'm not a Luddite, and I appreciate the convenience of the likes of Spotify and Deezer, but I'm heartened that physical formats have staged a mini comeback in 2024.

If I asked you to predict the best-selling vinyl album of the 21st century, spanning the years from 1970 to 1999, what would you guess? A separate countdown put together by the Official Charts Company named Rumours by Fleetwood Mac as the biggest LP, whilst The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd takes silver and Nirvana's Nevermind claims bronze. Our resident cake queen Kirsty (often found in the kitchen) is quite jealous that I've got my dad's original Pink Floyd vinyl, complete with the stickers that came free with the album back in the '70s. I've seen a sealed copy on sale for £2,500 on eBay, which is completely bananas.

For a format that was being written off as CDs surged in the 90s, vinyl has done pretty well to make a comeback, and long may that continue. As for my collection of CD singles by the likes of Atomic Kitten, Westlife and Steps, I don't think they represent a potential goldmine, sadly. Having just seen almost every household bill go up in April, it's crazy to think a single song used to cost £3.99 at Woolworths, and that's before you take into account the bulging bag of pink shrimps and flumps from the pic n' mix counter. I can't see the days of CD singles making a comeback, but I'll hang onto my HMV import copy of Vengaboys' Uncle John From Jamaica, just in case.