Record Store Day boosts vinyl sales to record heights

Edna Gundersen, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Record Store Day did record business this year.

Overall album sales were up 3% at independent record stores the week of Record Store Day vs. the equivalent week last year.

And vinyl LP sales were the highest ever the week of Record Store Day, selling 200,000 units this year compared to 147,000 in 2013, up 36%, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

The sixth Record Store Day, staged worldwide on April 20, served up more than 350 exclusive releases, many in limited editions of vinyl EPs, singles and albums.

Vinyl sales, up for five years straight, rose 17.7% in 2012, according to SoundScan's year-end data, which notes that 67% of purchases were made at indie record stores.

Album sales in all formats at indie stores rose 59% over the week prior to Record Store Day, the biggest week-over-week jump since the event started in 2008.

A look at Record Store Day album sales increases by year (over the prior week):

2013 (April 20, 2013): +59%

2012 (April 21, 2012): +27%

2011 (April 16, 2011): +39%

2010 (April 17, 2010): +12%

2009 (April 18, 2009): +21%

2008 (April 19, 2008): +0.4%

Vinyl album sales spiked 217% over the previous week at indie stores, with vinyl LPs accounting for 36% of album formats sold. Last year, vinyl's cut was 28%. Of all vinyl units sold in the week ending April 21, 82% were sold in indie record stores.

Two new vinyl releases, Fall Out Boy's Save Rock and Roll and The Flaming Lips' The Terror sold more than 4,000 copies each; 14 new vinyl album titles sold more than 1,000 copies each. Last year's top vinyl seller during the week of Record Store Day was the Black Keys' El Camino with 3,500.