Vinyl records revolution: new chart launched

Now the UK’s first weekly vinyl chart has been launched by the Official Charts Company after sales reached an 18-year high in 2014, at 1.29 million, and are set to grow by another 70% this year.

Burnley already boasts Electron Records and Astonishing Sounds, in Hall Street, while Townsend Records can be found in Moor Lane, Clitheroe.

The weekly vinyl albums and singles charts, are being introduced ahead of Record Store Day on April 18th.

The first official vinyl albums chart is topped by All Time Low’s Future Hearts and, in the first official vinyl singles chart, the number one spot is being taken by Underworld vs Heller & Farley’s track Baby Wants to Ride.

Chief executive of the Official Charts Company Martin Talbot said the vinyl industry grew in popularity in the 1960s and 1970s before declining in the 1980s and 1990s but is now climbing again.

He put the appeal of vinyl down to “nostalgia”, sound quality and wider availability. “We’ve seen specialist music shops start to stock more vinyl, we’ve seen fashion retailers start to stock vinyl, and there are now mail order services where you can get vinyl much more easily than maybe 10 years ago,” he said.

More than 200 UK record shops are taking part in this year’s Record Store Day on Saturday.