Record Industry Sales Spin Up : Boost in Sales Reverses Trend of the Mid-’80s

The number of records, tapes and compact discs sold in the United States jumped by more than 14% in 1987 and the dollar volume of sales increased by nearly 20%, according to figures released by the Recording Industry Assn. of America.

The upswing in total sales--to 706.8 million units in 1987 from 618.3 million units in 1986--reverses a trend that saw unit sales decline in 1985 and 1986, even as the dollar volume increased due to the higher price of compact discs, compared to records and tapes.

The 1987 sales performance is the industry’s best since its peak of 1978, when 762.1 units were shipped. And last year’s dollar volume was the industry’s highest ever--$5.57 billion, compared to $4.65 billion in 1986.

CD Sales Up 93%

However, the association’s dollar volume historically has been a bloated figure, since it is based on the suggested retail price of units sold. In reality, most records, tapes and discs are sold at considerably less than the suggested retail price.

Sales of compact discs soared by 93% over 1986, cassette sales were up 19% and LP sales continued to decline, slipping another 15%.

For the first time, the dollar volume of CD sales in 1987 exceeded that of LPs. CDs rang up $1.60 billion in sales in 1987, compared to $930 million the previous year. Only $793.1 million worth of albums were sold last year, a steep drop from 1986 sales of $983 million.

A new recording format, cassettes containing just one or two songs, showed up in 1987 with sales of $14.3 million. Sales of cassettes overall continued to dominate the recording industry, with 410 million units sold--almost four times the number of the next most popular format, LPs.

Tape Sales Dominate the Industry Share of the record industry’s 1987 sales rung up by various media at manufacturers’ suggested list price. Singles 3.6% Albums 14.5% CDs 29% Cassettes 53%

Source: Recording Industry Assn. of America