National Album Day: Celebrating a still vital format

11 October 2019 - Press release

Despite the apparent dominance of streaming, the album continues to defy the deadly diagnosis prescribed by many both inside and outside of the music industry.

Here at Townsend, a D2C partner helping artists sell special product to super fans, album sales continue to grow year-on-year. 2019 is looking to be our best year yet as we expand our album sales through our in-house affiliate programme and new retail website townsendmusic.store

We run over 1,000 global artist D2C stores year-round and, as a result, have helped an album chart in the Top 10, on average, every week for the last two years.

To put it simply, the album is not dead – it’s just found a new place in the modern music ecosystem.

The nature of streaming focuses on single track and playlist-listening. Townsend serves a thriving market of passionate fans who are opting for the full-length, physical album in reaction to this.

Fans are embracing the album and respecting it as a body of work curated by their favourite artists. On October 12, National Album Day will celebrate this movement with its ‘Don’t Skip’ theme - encouraging fans to appreciate each track in order.

Townsend Music has seen steady growth in album sales over the past few years, with an aggregate growth of 36% year-on-year since 2016. Townsend Music sales of physical releases have grown 139% between 2016 and 2019. Albums are highly sought after by music ‘superfans’ who are looking to bolster their physical music collections. We have adapted to this trend by focusing heavily on physical releases and bundling items that help fans grow their collections and represent a love for their favourite artists – exclusive bundles of vinyl, CDs, cassettes, tickets and merchandise.

Another trend we are seeing at Townsend is the re-emergence and strength of guitar music. Highlighted by recent chart successes of releases from Feeder, Slipknot and Tool, guitar music is clawing back some of the ground lost to other genres in the album charts.

Whilst hip-hop, pop and R&B dominate the singles charts - largely powered by streaming - guitar music is more prominent at the top end of the album charts; driven, in part, by physical sales. With big releases due from the likes of The Darkness, The Cure, Elbow, and Foals, physical sales of guitar records are likely to mean 2019 will end posting strong figures.

National Album Day 2019 is an apt homage to the LP. Many who have shifted in their listening habits in the streaming age will appreciate the reminder to consider albums as a complete body of work. But for music’s most passionate fans, who still seek out the album as a special link to their favourite artists, it will be a celebration of a still vital format.