The announcement comes after it was revealed in March this year that independent record stores in the UK are at a ten-year high. The Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) said there are now 461 indie record shops in the UK – 122 more than 10 years ago. However, just 8% of UK music sales are currently in physical form, ERA finds.

The shop will also open at a time when Denmark Street itself – which has lost much of its musical heritage in recent years to surrounding development and which has sparked the Save Denmark Street Campaign – is also on the up once again, having seen a handful of music shops return to the street in the last year.

“Over two floors the state of the art store will carry a huge selection of curated vinyl across all genres for avid collectors. As customers are welcomed in, they will find alongside the vinyl offering books, clothing, merchandise and limited edition one offs,” Rough Trade said in a press release. “Although the Denmark Street store will not offer a live performance space, it will host album signings and work in partnership with neighbouring venues HERE and The Lower Third to contribute to Rough Trade’s existing out-store events programme.”

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Denmark Street – also known as Tin Pan Alley – played an indispensable role at the cutting edge of UK and world music throughout the second half of the 20th century, and took on almost mythical status as the focal point guitar-based music worldwide. The street was most prominently home to an array of guitar shops, many of which hosted recording studios in their basements, as well as record company and promoters’ offices on their upper stories. Many music stores still dominate the small street, although their numbers have fallen in the last decade. Among the famous shops on the road to this day are Regent Sound Studios, Hank’s, and Wunjo’s, which have been joined by newer entrants in recent years. Artists who have recorded in the street’s studios include The Rolling Stones, The Jimi Hendrix Experience (cutting some rough demos and rehearsing), The Kinks (early demos), The Who (part of ‘A Quick One’). Elton John (playing sessions), The Lower Third with David Bowie (demos), Black Sabbath’s first two albums, and early albums and singles from The Bee Gees, The Troggs, Slade, Tom Jones, Sandie Shaw, The Equals, John Martyn, Davy Graham, The Yardbirds, Herman’s Hermits,, Mott The Hoople and countless others.

 

 

 

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The now closed La Giocanda Cafe on the street was the location of David Bowie’s recruitment of his first backing band, and also welcomed regulars including Elton John and Thin Lizzy. While some parts of the street are listed, development throughout the 2010s saw several beloved  stores and venues, such as the 12 Bar Club, close or move locations.

But in announcing the new store, Rough Trade paid homage to the immense weight of musical history that is palpable on the street, saying in its press release: “We can’t wait to welcome you to our beautiful new central London store in a location that holds such a profound place in the capital’s music history”.

At the same time last year physical album sales growth was negative at -0.3% and the whole of 2023 saw sales down 1.1% overall. If growth of physical records remains positive this year it will mean that 2024 will be the first year physical music sales have increased since 2004 when we saw a huge shift towards digital music and streaming. 2004 saw 163.4 million units being sold, showing how this trend towards streaming and digital music over the last two decades has affected physical music sales.

The overall consumption of music based on Album Equivalent Sales which combines all physical, digital and streaming, saw an increase of 9.8% in the first six months of the year rising to 98,548,427 units. Consumption of streaming equivalent albums alone increased by 11% to 87,974,752 units showing how streaming is still dominant within the market.

The vinyl boom of recent years has not yet been enough to drag the sales of physical albums into positive growth as the sale of CDs, which is still the dominant format in terms of units, has been seeing huge declines. However, this is on course to change in 2024 and this could be as a result of the emergence of vinyl collectors as well as initiatives such as Record Store Day, HMV Vinyl Week and National Album Day.

According to the half year figures Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ leads the way in physical sales so far this year with 254,241 units sold which has been a significant contribution to the increased physical album sales. As well as this, the other albums to make up the top 5 of physical album sales were ‘Swing Fever’ by Rod Stewart & Jools Holland with 48,540 sales, Liam Gallagher & John Squire’s self-titled album with 46,982, Billie Eilish’s ‘Hit Me Hard And Soft’ with 45, 434 sales and The Last Dinner Party’s debut album ‘Prelude To Ecstasy’ with 42,352.

Vinyl was the driving force in the increase of physical sales in the first six months with sales of vinyl albums increasing 12.4% to 3,052,498 units. The growth of vinyl sales was up 13.3% in the second quarter of the year. CD sales were down 1.5% to 4,911,845 units in the first half of the year which, although shows a decline in sales, it actually marks a significant slowing of the decline of CD sales compared to recent years which has contributed to physical sales overall growth in the first six months of 2024. This could also potentially mean that there will be a CD revival as the decline in sales was even slower in the second quarter of the year at just 0.8%.

The growing interest in copies of physical music is also shown in the figures for the sales of singles with seven-inch vinyl sales being at their highest point in 15 years.

The sale of 5.9 million units this year is the highest amount of vinyl records sold in a single year in the UK since 1990. This past week, with the aid of Christmas sales, set yet another record with 250,000 records being sold in the UK, the highest amount for any week since the start of the 21st century.

The immense popularity of vinyl sales this year can positively be attributed to a number of artists, not least American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, who has a staggering three albums in the top 10 biggest-selling records this year. Swift, unsurprisingly then perhaps, also claimed the honour of being the artist behind the year’s best-selling album. Her LP 1989 (Taylor’s Version), a re-recording of Swift’s fifth album, 1989, originally released in 2014, sold 78,767 units. The other Swift albums that made the top 10 list include the other album she re-recorded this year, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), and her latest original studio LP Midnights.

The Rolling Stones album Hackney Diamonds, released in October this year, came second in the top 10 list and is followed closely by Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Other albums to feature in the list include Blur’s latest LP The Ballad of Darren, Fleetwood Mac classic Rumours, Pink Floyd’s iconic The Dark Side of the Moon, and Lewis Capaldi’s Broken by Desire to be Heavenly Sent.

Commenting on the recent surge in popularity of vinyl records, BPI chief executive Dr Jo Twist OBE said, “Led by vinyl, the resurgence of physical product underlines the resilience of the UK music market at a time when streaming consumption continues to hit record levels.

She continued, “Whilst LP sales have now been on an upward path for the past 16 years, it is encouraging to see a stabilisation in demand for CD, as well as new generations of music fans falling in love with the cassette. It is giving people more choice than ever in how they enjoy their favourite music.”

The resurgence in popularity of the vinyl record is a trend not likely to slow down anytime soon, despite streaming services dominating the airwaves. The pleasure of physically owning an LP and adding it to a colourful and diverse collection are among the reasons for buying records, as American anti-folk singer-songwriter Jeffrey Lewis eloquently illustrates in his 2019 single ‘LPs‘. Watch the music video below: