Good luck finding an official number.
I ‘left’ LP’s about 35 years ago for the most part too.
Two years ago, dove back into vinyl out of curiosity, and now, I would say at least 85% of my listening is via vinyl, and also have a Nak cassette deck I use occasionally. Thank goodness I kept most all my LP’s. I also have many CD’s, and at times, play those as well, but rarely if ever, mix LP and CD listening. I rarely stream, but do subscribe to Tidal.
I would have to say I, and others like me, are a very small percentage of all folks, (who listen to music), do so 80-100% via pure analog sources. I would imagine even a small percentage of all ‘audiophiles’.
But, how many have a turntable in their set-up, but only use it 5-10% of the time? Even that number is probably very low for *all* music listeners.
Has turntable and LP sales increased? Yes, sure, but what are we comparing that to? CD sales have also plummeted, probably as much as LP’s did during the 80-90’s.
Bottom line, most *all* music listeners are not buying albums at all anymore, in any format. Most all are streaming various music via a streaming service.
That certainly isn’t me. I still buy LP’s, CD’s, and even an occasional cassette. I just ‘have to’ have a physical medium. I ‘have to’ own my music in a tangible way. That’s how I grew up in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and beyond.
I ‘left’ LP’s about 35 years ago for the most part too.
Two years ago, dove back into vinyl out of curiosity, and now, I would say at least 85% of my listening is via vinyl, and also have a Nak cassette deck I use occasionally. Thank goodness I kept most all my LP’s. I also have many CD’s, and at times, play those as well, but rarely if ever, mix LP and CD listening. I rarely stream, but do subscribe to Tidal.
I would have to say I, and others like me, are a very small percentage of all folks, (who listen to music), do so 80-100% via pure analog sources. I would imagine even a small percentage of all ‘audiophiles’.
But, how many have a turntable in their set-up, but only use it 5-10% of the time? Even that number is probably very low for *all* music listeners.
Has turntable and LP sales increased? Yes, sure, but what are we comparing that to? CD sales have also plummeted, probably as much as LP’s did during the 80-90’s.
Bottom line, most *all* music listeners are not buying albums at all anymore, in any format. Most all are streaming various music via a streaming service.
That certainly isn’t me. I still buy LP’s, CD’s, and even an occasional cassette. I just ‘have to’ have a physical medium. I ‘have to’ own my music in a tangible way. That’s how I grew up in the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and beyond.