The music industry sales numbers for the first half of 2014 have been released and they show that the business is still suffering.
The New York Times points out that according to the latest report put out by the Recording Industry of America, sales from the major record companies are down almost five percent compared to last year, dropping to $3.2 billion. Streaming and downloads made up a big chunk of that total ($2.2 billion) with downloads accounting for 60 percent of the shared sum. Last year, downloads made up 69 percent.
Although digital sales still holds a commanding 68 percent of the total sales revenue, streaming services like Spotify and Rhapsody, in addition to Pandora and video websites, make up 27 percent, and they're gaining steam. The report stated that 7.8 million people in the U.S. bought subscriptions to streaming service, up from 6.1 million from last year.
CDs continue to die slowly, with sales falling 19 percent by revenue. Vinyl LP sales on the other hand are up 43 percent, making up $146 million. Just last month, Jack White's Lazaretto became the highest selling vinyl since Pearl Jam's Vitalogy in 1994 with 60,000 sales. "[Using a turntable] is a good thing for parents to show their kids," White said in 2012 at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. "It involves you immediately in the music. Your involvement in the media, romantically, can't be touched. If you said play a track and pushed a button on an iPod, there's absolutely nothing romantic about that. Pull out a record and are you not immediately more engaged? I relish the idea of showing a kid how to put a needle on a record."
Earlier this week, Urban Outfitters was named the top seller of vinyl by Forbes.
