Record sales in Belgium tripled in four years

Last year there were 150,000 vinyl records sold in Belgium, for a turnover of €3.19 million. That is a tripling of record sales compared to 2010, according to figures from the Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA).

Vinyl sales hit rock-bottom in 2010, with only 46,971 records sold. In 2014, however, there were 150,000 records sold. "Records are now sold in larger stores. That was unthinkable a few years ago when the vinyl enthusiast could only find them in specialist record shops," explains Olivier Maeterlinck of BEA.

While record sales have tripled in four years, their turnover has more than quadrupled, from €773,525 in 2010 to €3.19 million last year. "The average price of a record has gone up in recent years due to increased demand. But more and more artists are releasing their new albums in vinyl again, or re-releasing old ones," explains Maeterlinck.

But vinyl, he add, "remains a niche market.” "Stromae’s Racine Carrée was the best-selling record in 2014 with 1,000 copies. It was purchased more than 100,000 times on CD or online.”