[www.bbc.com]

'Superfans' buy more than two-thirds of all vinyl

By Mark Savage
BBC Music reporter .


A hardcore of 'superfans' buy more than two-thirds of all the vinyl records sold in the UK, according to new data.
The Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) says these collectors fork out more than £400 every year, accounting for 72% of sales.
With the average LP costing £20.31, superfans are each purchasing at least 19 albums.
The figure illustrates how niche the "vinyl revival" is, despite record-breaking sales over the last few years.
In total, 4.1m vinyl albums were sold in 2017, the highest number since the 1990s.
But the format only accounts for 3% of the total music market, and in 2015 a BBC/ICM poll found that almost half (48%) of the vinyl records people buy never get played.

Superfans also prop up the Blu-Ray market, accounting for 61% of sales, says the ERA.
By contrast, big-spenders only make up 11% of the DVD market. For console games the figure is 34%, and for CDs (where £400 would buy you almost 50 albums a year) it is 32%.
"Music, video and games may reach virtually the entire population, but it is these £400-a-year Superfans who are the backbone of the market," said ERA's CEO, Kim Bayley.
The data came from the ERA's quarterly tracking study which measures the entertainment consumption behaviour of more than 2,200 UK adults.

Will growth continue?
It was released as the music industry held the first ever Vinyl World Congress in Brighton, where speakers dismissed the idea that vinyl was a "passing fad".
"People pay for vinyl not because they have to but because they want to," said Paul Pacifico, CEO of the Association of Independent Music.
"They want a physical representation of their emotional connection with an artist."
Christine Gough, who oversees vinyl production for Universal Music, said the company had "records planned for the next three to five years".
"From our perspective, we don't see a decrease in vinyl sales at all," she said, characterising the boom as a "backlash" against instant-access consumer culture.
"People don't just want music on the go. You want to sit back, put that vinyl on and listen."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2018-05-15 13:18 by tatters.

So:

IF 'superfans' account for 72% of vinyl record sales,
and total sales were 4,100,100,
and each superfan bought 19 albums,

72% of 4,100,100 is 2,952,000.
Divide by 19 albums for each 'superfan',
makes 155,368 'superfans' out there in the UK

That seems a lot to me

Rod

whats a superfan

A person that buys everything and/or follows a band through anything. Which describes a lot of us here. You're not one?

ive bought more than my fair share of records over the years.

buttons67 -Just to be clear I was being half sarcastic. From my perspective it's an unusual question to ask on a fan site that's populated with hard cores. There's many levels, but in the end most of us are "superfans". You don't have to buy everything. I'm not buying the new LP Box and didn't buy the others either. But I do buy most the CDs and a few other things. I've slowed down considerably with all the recent years of cash grabs. Still, I'm enjoying the music and concerts while I can. Cheers.

everyone has their own level of financial commitment when it comes to what to spend on music.

if i had more money i would buy more albums, go to more gigs etc.

its impossible to commit financially 100% to everything a person likes.

Why does a 'superfan' buy product....and then never listen to it?
Doesn't make sense.

Quote
tatters

"They want a physical representation of their emotional connection with an artist."

This, in a nutshell, explains the vinyl comeback. I know it's the reason I started buying vinyl again. It thinking it will also happen to the book market soon enough. Downloads and e-readers make great music and great books disposable and eventually forgotten...

Quote
jlowe
Why does a 'superfan' buy product....and then never listen to it?
Doesn't make sense.

Superfans are like hamsters. Collecting is the thing. Preferably with the plastic cover still intact.