The Vinyl Countdown - Pollstar News

The UK-based International Phonographic Industry is clearly excited by the rising sales of vinyl and has been moved to publish a breakdown of the global market.

In 2014 the format enjoyed a 54.7 percent increase in revenues to $346.8 million. To put the figures in perspective, vinyl remains a niche sector of the overall recorded music market and accounts for only 2 percent of the total $14.97 billion from 2014.

“Critics thought vinyl would disappear as a format, but many music fans around the world seem to be falling in love with it again,” said IFPI chief exec Frances Moore.

The IFPI figures show the U.S. is the leading market for vinyl, where in 2014 the market grew 52.8 percent to be worth $181.6 million

. The market with the highest growth was Australia, where sales climbed 127 percent, although it’s still only the ninth-largest market.

The top end of the chart is dominated by the largest recorded music markets, with the U.S. being followed by Germany, where the market’s worth $34 million, the UK ($31.7 million) and Japan ($16.3 million).

The IFPI’s full global market report for 2014, “Recording Industry In Numbers,” was published April 20. Click here for the full report.