It would seem that vinyl albums are a thing of the past, but somehow, the Beatles are still in the thick of them -- and still the leader in sales.
In a review of 2010 released Thursday, Nielsen's SoundScan reported the Beatles were the top-selling artist on vinyl for the year. Their "Abbey Road" album was also the year's top-selling vinyl album with almost double the units sold over Arcade Fire's "Suburbs," which placed second. Almost astonishingly, placing ninth on the best-selling album list was perennial best-seller "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd.
Also, the top 10-selling vinyl artists are not all classic rockers. The order of finish and number of units sold: 1. The Beatles (36,700), 2. The Black Keys (36,000), 3. Radiohead (30,500), 4. Arcade Fire (28,600), 5. Jimi Hendrix (26,400), 6. National (24,600), 7. Pavement (24,200), 8. Vampire Weekend (21,900), 9. Metallica (20,000), 10. Bob Dylan (17,000).
The top 10 selling vinyl albums: 1. "Abbey Road", The Beatles (35,000), 2. "Suburbs", Arcade Fire (18,800), 3. Black Keys, "Brothers" (18,400), 4. "Contra", Vampire Weekend (15,000), 5. "Thriller", Michael Jackson (14,200), 6. "High Violet," National (13,600), 7. "Teen Dream", Beach House (13,000), 8. "Valleys of Nepture," Jimi Hendrix Experience (11,400), 9. "Dark Side of the Moon," Pink Floyd (10,600), 10. "XX," The XX (10,200).
Additionally, John Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" ranked eighth in the Top 10 Holiday Songs Airplay. Top song was Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."
The Beatles rank second on the top 10 selling artists from 1991 to Jan. 2, 2011, placing second with 62,066,000 units sold to Garth Brooks with 68,513,000. And "Beatles 1" is seventh on the top 10 selling albums in the same period with 11,703,000 units sold. Metallica's "Metallica" is first with 15,620,000.
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Comments
Nice to see the fabs on top of 2010's vinyl sales! Now where's that re-mastered Beatles vinyl box set that was supposed to come out? Coming soon I hope!
Steve - vinyl has made a major comeback in the last 5 years, with every new album also available in vinyl form, regardless of the type of music. The net is full of stories from every major news agency about it. Amazon.com even has it's own vinyl store now. As CDs die off, vinyl is picking up the slack as it will remain the standard for physical product, both new and used.
They may be coming back, but it's a very slow comeback. And any music stores still carry way more CDs than vinyl. And most people don't buy vinyl these days.
Vinyl sales might be a niche market, but as Tim stated it has made a major comeback in the last 5-10 years. I for one never really gave up on vinyl. New turntables and tonearms are still being made and are some of the best ever. I think the remastered Beatles vinyl box set is eagerly awaited by many audiophiles and collectors!
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