Nearly half of UK vinyl purchasers don't have a turntable they actually use, according to survey results seen by Pitchfork. Only 52% of UK adults who reported buying vinyl in the last month said they had a turntable they currently use, polling company ICM Unlimited said. Indeed, 7% of UK vinyl buyers said they don't have or want a turntable.

A press release on the survey, released in time for Record Store Day 2016, attributed that finding perhaps partly to interest in collecting vinyl as a hobby and for the artwork. Half of vinyl buyers described themselves as "collectors," ICM said.

BBC News, which was first to report on the survey, quotes a student in Manchester as saying: "I have vinyls in my room but it's more for decor. I don't actually play them ... It gives me the old-school vibe. That's what vinyl's all about."

In the UK, as in the U.S., vinyl sales have been surging. UK LP sales last year totaled 2.1 million units, a 21-year high, according to the trade group BPI. The BPI has also tallied sales of nearly 640,000 LPs in the first three months of 2016, up more than 60% from the same period last year.

The biggest selling UK vinyl album of the year so far was David Bowie's★ (Blackstar). Two other Bowie LPs, the compilation Nothing Has Changed – The Very Best Of and a reissue of 1972's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, were also among the top 10 UK vinyl sellers in the first quarter.

The ICM survey also suggested a link between vinyl sales and streaming. The polling company said 45% of vinyl buyers reported hearing an album or EP via SoundCloud, YouTube, Spotify, or another streaming service before purchasing the vinyl. The majority of this streaming was free, according to ICM.

Read our feature How to Buy the Best Turntable and Stereo System for Your Record Collection, and check out Record Store Day 2016's Best and Weirdest Bets over on the Pitch.