Music streaming fuels vinyl sales, according to new research.
An ICM poll, shared with the BBC, has found that half of consumers who buy a vinyl album have listened to it online first.
This behaviour is more pronounced for people who use ad-funded streaming services such as SoundCloud or YouTube - suggesting free access to music can actually drive sales.
However, 48 percent of people who bought vinyl last month said they have yet to play it, with a further seven per cent saying they do not even own a turntable.
The ICM research shows that the majority of music (73 percent) is now bought online, with Amazon emerging as the top retailer, accounting for 27 percent of all sales.
Apple's iTunes store is next, with an 18 percent market share, followed by supermarkets (10 percent) and high street record stores (seven percent).
Men are more likely to visit a bricks-and-mortar record shop than women, the figures suggest, but there has been an increase in the number of women buying vinyl.
Andrew Wiseman, head of ICM Unlimited, told the BBC: ‘About eight percent of men have bought vinyl in the last month, and that's been fairly constant over the last three of four years.’
‘Back in 2013, only three percent of women bought vinyl and that's risen to five percent in the last year - so we're starting to see that gap close. However, it is still the case that less than one in 10 people are buying vinyl, and we shouldn't forget that it's still a relatively small part of the market.’
Over the last decade, vinyl has enjoyed a surprising resurgence.
New Official Charts Company figures suggest the rise has continued into 2016, with 637,056 records sold in the first three months of the year, accounting for almost three percent of the UK music market.
An ICM poll, shared with the BBC, has found that half of consumers who buy a vinyl album have listened to it online first.
This behaviour is more pronounced for people who use ad-funded streaming services such as SoundCloud or YouTube - suggesting free access to music can actually drive sales.
However, 48 percent of people who bought vinyl last month said they have yet to play it, with a further seven per cent saying they do not even own a turntable.
The ICM research shows that the majority of music (73 percent) is now bought online, with Amazon emerging as the top retailer, accounting for 27 percent of all sales.
Apple's iTunes store is next, with an 18 percent market share, followed by supermarkets (10 percent) and high street record stores (seven percent).
Men are more likely to visit a bricks-and-mortar record shop than women, the figures suggest, but there has been an increase in the number of women buying vinyl.
Andrew Wiseman, head of ICM Unlimited, told the BBC: ‘About eight percent of men have bought vinyl in the last month, and that's been fairly constant over the last three of four years.’
‘Back in 2013, only three percent of women bought vinyl and that's risen to five percent in the last year - so we're starting to see that gap close. However, it is still the case that less than one in 10 people are buying vinyl, and we shouldn't forget that it's still a relatively small part of the market.’
Over the last decade, vinyl has enjoyed a surprising resurgence.
New Official Charts Company figures suggest the rise has continued into 2016, with 637,056 records sold in the first three months of the year, accounting for almost three percent of the UK music market.
