Record Store Day: RSD 2013 Pushes Vinyl Sales Numbers To Their Highest Mark In 22 Years

Good news, enthusiasts! It looks like your Local Independent Record Store(LIRS)  will probably be open for another year thanks to this year's ultra-succesful Record Store Day. RSD 2013 was so big, in fact, it push vinyl LP sales numbers higher than they have been in 22 years.

According to Nielsen Soundscan, 244,000 vinyl LPs were sold on the week of April 21. This represents the largest number of vinyl albums moved since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991.

The increased sales can be attributed to greater awareness of Record Store Day as it ages, interesting gimmicks like Jack White's vinyl recording booth getting bodies in the store, and a wider selection of RSD exclusive releases than previous years.

 "Record Store Day increased the number of special releases we did this year to over 400 titles, as compared to about 300 last year," said Record Store Day co-founder Michael Kurtz, in an interview with Billboard. "This was done mainly to accommodate regional releases and small runs from independently owned labels."

This banner week for the format broke the record set in December of last year. In the week before Christmas, as consumers  scrambled for gifts, record stores sold 172,000 vinyl LPs to last-minute shoppers.

Overall, independent stores sold 544,000 albums in any format, a jump of 59% over the previous week. This pales in comparison with the 765,000 albums that were moved by indie retailers last Christmas.

Only one Record Store Day release broke the Billboard Hot 200. Mumford and Sons' "Live at Bull Moose" sold 3,000 copies to land at 174. However, the Tastemakers chart (documenting sales at indie and small chain outlets, was full of RSD releases.

The antiquated Hot Singles chart, which documents sales of physical singles, is full of RSD exclusives (as is to be expected. Physical singles hardly exist outside of these special releases).