--- description: Paid downloads for albums and songs declined, while streams soared title: Vinyl Sales Up in 2014: Nielsen SoundScan Data image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1d46a1d387799a0/698777fa3c163937c6450f22/126238847.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Vinyl Sales Hit Record High in 2014  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jan 3, 2015 2:57 PM CUT  Record player Record playerGetty Images  by [Olivia B. Waxman](/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Staff Writer Jan 3, 2015 2:57 PM CUT **Correction Appended: January 5, 2015:** Vinyl sales took a promising turn in 2014. According to Nielsen SoundScan data out this week, vinyl records boasted 9.2 million in sales, up 52 percent from 2013—the highest numbers recorded on SoundScan since the music industry monitor started tracking them in 1991, the [Wall Street _Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/music-downloads-plummet-in-u-s-but-sales-of-vinyl-records-and-streaming-surge-1420092579?cb=logged0.5412101105321199 "undefined") reports. Vinyl, however, still only accounted for six percent of album sales on the whole. Paid downloads dropped 9 percent for albums and 12 percent for songs, while streaming services like Spotify boasted 164 billion song streams, a 54 percent increase from 2013. \[[_WSJ_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/music-downloads-plummet-in-u-s-but-sales-of-vinyl-records-and-streaming-surge-1420092579?cb=logged0.5412101105321199 "undefined")\] _Correction: The original version of this story misstated the number of vinyl records sold in 2014\. According to Nielsen SoundScan, 9.2 million units were sold._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3652761/vinyl-sales-2014/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3652761/vinyl-sales-2014/"},"headline":"Vinyl Sales Hit Record High in 2014","datePublished":"2015-01-03T14:57:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:15:11.471Z","description":"Paid downloads for albums and songs declined, while streams soared","url":"https://time.com/3652761/vinyl-sales-2014/","keywords":["Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1d46a1d387799a0/698777fa3c163937c6450f22/126238847.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1d46a1d387799a0/698777fa3c163937c6450f22/126238847.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"126238847","caption":"126238847","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3652761/vinyl-sales-2014/","name":"Vinyl Sales Hit Record High in 2014"}}]}] ```