2015 was a historic year for the music industry, but for a surprising reason: It was the first time in history that people bought more old albums than new ones.
Last year, the music industry reported sales of 118.5 million albums released between mid-2014 and the end of 2015. But catalog albums, meaning albums that were originally released more than 18 months ago, sold 122.8 million, beating new records for the first time ever. The same pattern was seen in sales of individual digital tracks, with 479.8 million new tracks selling versus 484.9 million catalog tracks.
Even platinum albums like Adele’s 25, which sold over 7 million copies in six weeks, couldn’t keep new records from outselling old music. A decade ago, new tracks outsold catalog tracks by over 150 million albums. The number of catalog sales has steadily increased since then, however, and by 2014 catalog and new sales were almost equal.
Numerous reasons have been floated for this phenomenon, with many praising the quality of older records made before the era of digital Auto-Tuning and the loudness war. Another possibility is the resurgence of vinyl sales, where a large number of quality vinyl reissues are driving demand for records. For example, Pink Floyd’s chestnut The Dark Side of the Moon, released in 1973, sold 50,000 copies in 2015.
Old Music Outsold New Music for the First Time Ever | Mass Appeal
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. They must be making up for the loss of sales with a gain from increased ticket prices.