Are you selling Vinyl?

Vinyl record sales are at the highest they’ve been in 30 years. As an independent musician this is important information as it demonstrates that audiences desire to purchase music as a physical product. Over the past years many musicians have come to believe that their fans do not want to buy music in a physical format anymore. This idea seems reasonable given the popularity of YouTube and of the streaming services such as Spotify ITunes, Tidal, etc. However, the statistics tell another story. If you are an independent musician and you are not selling music and physical form you’re leaving money on the table. The lesson here is to use data to your advantage, and the data says sell CDs and LPs!

Source https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/7699.jpeg

To maximize revenues as an independent artist, one must not only produce excellent music with equally impressive visuals for the online audience, but also must be aware of the merchandise preferences among their fans. One of the experiences that many fans enjoy is collecting merchandise produced by their favorite artists. For example, some bands produce limited edition posters available for sale only at specific concert venues and these rarities become highly sought after collectors’ items for their fans.

Many artists who are finding success in the increasingly do-it-yourself world of independent music are bundling products with new music. Would you rather someone go stream your new song on Spotify or buy the new Vinyl, a T-shirt, a scented candle, signature cookie mix, breakfast cereal, roller skates, bumper sticker, or whatever and spend $50 on your online cart? Combining the release of new music to the sale of physical products such as vinyl LP’s, limited edition colored vinyl, autographed CDs and albums, as well as merchandise packages including physical delivery of the music along with T shirts or other merchandise, concert tickets and VIP experiences including dinners or happy hours, and access to exclusive online communities through services such as Patreon or through a custom artist app through the use of a sales page or funnel can be an effective way to leverage the music release event into greater sales.

Don’t fall into the trap of deciding for your fans what they want to buy from you. If you really want to provide them value, do everything you can to provide them opportunities to enjoy you and your art and as many creative ways as possible

For further details see https://www.statista.com/chart/7699/lp-sales-in-the-united-states/