Billboard: 2019 Record Store Day Yields Historic Week for Vinyl Album Sales

All hail vinyl! Record Store Day drove record-breaking music sales figures yet again, according to Nielsen Music.

The 12th annual indie music retailer celebration, staged on April 13, helped yield 827,000 vinyl albums sold in the U.S. in the week ending April 18, according to Nielsen Music — a record for Record Store Day week, and the third-largest sales week for vinyl albums since Nielsen Music started tracking sales in 1991.  

The previous largest vinyl album sales haul for a Record Store Day week was 2018 with 733,000 sold in the week ending April 26. The only two larger weeks for vinyl album sales overall were logged during the Christmas season of 2018 (905,000; week ending Dec. 27 and 880,000; Dec. 20).

In addition, 673,000 vinyl albums were sold via independent record stores — the biggest week ever for the format at indie stores in Nielsen Music history. The sales sum beats the previous high, tallied a year ago during Record Store Day week (533,000), by 16%.

Top Record Store Day Exclusive Albums at Independent Record Stores
Rank, Artist, Title
1. Grateful Dead, Warfield: San Francisco, California, October 9th, 1980 / October 10th, 1980
2. Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks: Test Pressing
3. Green Day, Green Day Live! Woodstock 1994
4. Greta Van Fleet, From the Fires
5. Pink Floyd, A Saucerful of Secrets
6. Fleetwood Mac, The Alternate Fleetwood Mac
7. Prince, His Majesty’s Pop Life / The Purple Mix Club
8 (TIE). Pearl Jam, Live at Easy Street
8 (TIE). Weezer (Teal Album)

10. The Doors, London Fog: May, 1966

Read more details at Billboard:  https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8508474/2019-record-store-day-historic-week-vinyl-album-sales

Strictly Vinyl ... Record Store Day 2019

Saturday April 13th, 2019 is Record Store Day so for its special vinyl-only Records Store Day 2019 titles, VP Records reaches into its early history and two of its important sublabels. 

A 7-record box set of 7-inch singles on the collectible Roots From The Yard label highlights the early years of the company, when records were pressed on behalf of independent producers on a variety of sublabels including Roots From The Yard. The set includes tracks from Barrington Levy (“A Yah Me Deh”), Bim Sherman (“Mighty Ruler”), The Mighty Fantells (“Every Where”), Junior Delgado (“Tishan”), Freddie McKay (“I Man”/”Creation”), Earth & Stone (“Wicked Haffe Dress Back”), and Linval Thompson (“Roll River Jordan”).

The next title is Nightfall, a deep collector’s rarity from reggae and dancehall icon Johnny Osbourne. Released in 1981 on VP’s Jah Guidance imprint, the album features heavy mixes and extended dubs produced by Linval Thompson, with the Roots Radics band, and engineered by Hopeton “Scientist” Brown. A companion release produced by Thompson, the 12-inch single by Freddie McKay “Another Weekend,” backed with Earl Sixteen’s “Live Together” is featured as a Record Store Day title in Europe on VP’s subsidiary label Greensleeves.

The final Record Store Day title is the Roots Radics 12 Inches Of Dub, a spectacular and never before released dub companion to General Echo’s 1980 Greensleeves album 12 Inches Of Pleasure, produced by Henry “Junjo” Lawes, and again featuring the Roots Radics in their prime with heavy mixes by Scientist.

VP Records will celebrate Record Store Day 2019 on April 13th at its flagship retail location on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, New York and its store in Miramar, Florida with a day of special DJ and soundsystem performances celebrating and featuring vinyl records. Events will be streamed live on the VP Records YouTube channel.

Follow @GreensleevesRecords @17northparade @vprecords @vprecordsretailny @vprecordsfloridaretail on Instagram and tag pictures of these releases at #recordstoreday #RSD19 #vinyylrecords #33rpm #45rpm and @recordstoreday and @recordstoredayus.