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The Long-Playing Record now 'A Historical Curiosity'
The long-playing record, one of the cultural icons of the twentieth century, is now no more than a historical curiosity.
An analysis of our music-buying habits shows that only 2.2 million LPs were sold in 1998 (measured in trade deliveries) – just 0.75% of all music formats. Since 1992, sales have declined by 67% and if this trend continues LPs will soon go the way of the Betamax video.
In Cultural Trends 31, Cliff Dane and Dave Laing take the pulse of the UK music industry. Their report shows the gradual disappearance of the world immortalised by the novelist Nick Hornby.
For a start, interest in the weekly singles chart seems to be declining. A generation ago, the nation would wait eagerly for the Top 20. In 1998, however, the sale of singles fell by 9% - the first drop recorded in the 1990s. Modern consumers have turned to albums, whose sales grew by 11% in 1998 after a period of stagnation.
The traditional independent music shop is also fast disappearing. There were over 2,200 in 1984 but this figure has now more than halved to 1,085. This may hit the dance scene, which depends on specialist shops.
The indie music labels have experienced mixed fortunes. Artistically, they have been a soaraway success, accounting for 40% of new artists achieving gold album sales in the 1990s. However, many indie labels have found the 1990s financially tough. Their profit margin reached a low of 2.7% in 1996 and now a number of labels have been absorbed by major companies.
That might explain why major labels now account for around three quarters of album and singles sales – up from the 62% and 58% respectively they recorded in 1988.
Interest in classical music has failed to live up to expectations generated by the success of the 1994 World Cup. The famous recording of Nessan Dorma by The Three Tenors helped boost classical music sales by 20% in 1994. Since then, however, trade deliveries have declined by 5.5% to 14.6 million. And in 1996, free CDs, including those with music magazines, accounted for a quarter of the total UK classical music market.
Last year was a good one for British musicians. The UK accounted for 31% of the top 100 European hit albums and 22% of the hit singles in 1998. This put UK artists ahead of American musicians, reversing the trend from 1997. In that year, Americans took a bigger percentage of the European singles market and were level pegging with Britain on album hits.
'The music habits of a generation are disappearing' said Sara Selwood, editor of Cultural Trends. 'We may feel nostalgic for the 1970s and 1980s but the symbols of those decades – the LP, the Top 20 and the corner record store – are all now in decline or close to disappearing. The new world revolves around the mass marketing of chain stores and supermarkets, major labels and chart promotions.'