A Double Vinyl Records Sale

A music-buying public enamored of digital downloads may be abandoning the compact disc in droves, but one physical medium is staging a tiny comeback.

Amid otherwise gloomy music sales numbers released by Nielsen Co. this week, vinyl record sales doubled compared with the year before.

The number of long-play vinyl records sold in the United States rose to 1.88 million units, compared with 990,000 the year before.

While vinyl records represent just a fraction of total music sales, their resurgence could not come at a better time for another under-fire segment of the music industry, the independent record store.

Nielsen said almost two-thirds of the vinyl albums sold last year were from independent shops.

Harmik Grigorian, co-owner of L'Atelier Grigorian music store in Toronto's Yorkville district, said he plans to begin selling new vinyl releases next year because more and more people are coming in and asking for them.

Read more...