Does anyone here have any idea how much new LPs sell? Let's say some classic record re-released on Sundazed. What would be a good sales figure? And how about throwing a Beatle into the equation? How many LPs do you figure sell of Paul's Driving Rain?
Good question. I figure they would expect a few thousand of each title to move, basing their ability to break even or make a profit on a specific expectation. The nice thing is that they can be assured that any decent title will sell out, even if it takes a year or more. Many titles are pressed with a specific number of copies designated, then that's it, they move on to the next title to press.
To answer my own question, in an interview in Stereophile with Bob Irwin of Sundazed Records, the question is put to him. Irwin: "We have vinyl titles that sell 3000 copies worldwide and we have titles that sell 10,000 copies or more. We have some that sell 20,000 copies, and we're very happy." I saw some figures posted the other day and total LP sales of all artists combined for 2001 was around 2 million units. Unfortunately I can't remember if that was worldwide or just the US. I don't know what the total of used LPs moved through Goodwill was, but probably it was more
The sales figures reported for new vinyl are quite flawed. To the best of my knowledge, they don't take into account sales made from the type of stores much of new vinyl is sold from. These figures come from point-of-sale terminals, but many of the stores selling new vinyl don't have these, therefore making these figures incorrect. MMM
This what has been reported by more than one source. Stereophile often reports this. And I have been told they also only tend to report new releases and usually do not include reissue records.
