For the last 18 years the vinyl record industry in the U.S. has sustained a continuous uptick in sales. So when a report last month by Luminate, the leading music industry source for tracking music consumption, indicated a precipitous 33% drop during the first half of 2024, it caused quite a stir. Since then, Luminate has retracted its original report, and followed up with a corrected report saying vinyl sales were actually up 2.2% year-to-date in 2024.
Ultimately counting record sales isn’t as easy as it may seem. Although Luminate gets accurate accounting of record sales from major online websites and big box retailers, sales from independent record stores (“indies”) are harder to come by. That wouldn’t be such a big deal, except for the fact that an estimated 41% of record sales are from indies in the U.S. So with only a small fraction of indies reporting vinyl sales, Luminate has always estimated the total indie portion in its reports. But how they estimate matters.
A small change in Luminate’s estimation algorithm caused a dramatic turn of events. But there is more to the story of vinyls resurgence, so we hope you’ll tune in to take a deep dive into the vinyl music industry.
To find why this happened, we speak with Chris Muratore, Director of Partnerships at Luminate and music industry insider Billy Fields from Warner Music Group.
Sponsors: Thank you to our sponsors Q Acoustics and SVS
On the Panel:
- Mitch Anderson, Host & eCoustics Podcast Producer
- Brian Mitchell, eCoustics, Founder & CEO
- Chris Muratore, Director of Partnerships, Luminate
- Billy Fields, VP Sales, Warner Music Group
About Chris Muratore:
Chris Muratore is Director of Partnerships at Luminate. He has worked for 18 years in various positions at Luminate’s previous iteration, Nielsen SoundScan, and more recently founded Border City Media, the startup behind music consumption data tool BuzzAngle Music (now Alpha Data, and, like Luminate, a subsidiary of Billboard’s parent company, Penske Media Corporation).
About Billy Fields:
Billy Fields is VP, Retail/Commercial Services & Vinyl Strategist for WMX, the artist & label services arm of Warner Music Group. As the company’s resident vinyl expert, Fields serves as the day-to-day conduit for independent retailers and the four major independent music coalitions; overseeing all aspects of vinyl production, planning, marketing, sales forecasts, projections and strategy.
Where to listen:
- Apple Podcasts
- Amazon Music
- Spotify
- iHeart Radio
- Spreaker
- Stitcher
- Deezer
- Castbox
- Podcast Addict
- Pod-chaser
- TuneIn
- YouTube
Related Links:
- https://luminatedata.com
- https://www.wmg.com
- https://vinylalliance.org
- https://www.riaa.com/u-s-sales-database/
- https://www.ifpi.org
- https://www.discogs.com/digs/collecting/vinyl-sales-up-in-2024/
- https://www.ecoustics.com/podcasts/the-record-strikes-back-episode-1/
Credits:
- Original intro music by The Arc of All.
- Voice Over Provided by Todd Harrell of SSP Unlimited.
- Production by Mitch Anderson, Black Circle Studios.
