Record Store Day 2014 Sales Break…Records
Based on the exclusive albums made available, the long store lineups, the after-the-fact online demand for specific releases, we all 
had to know that sales figures for the 2014 edition of Record Store Day would be massive. Well, that is in fact the case.
According to Nielsen SoundScan, Record Store Day 2014 saw its vinyl sales improve 58% compared to last year. In all, a “SoundScan era high” of 369,000 vinyl LPs were sold during the week ending April 20.
In all, vinyl albums accounted for more than 50% of all album sales at independent retailers, while 43 of the top 50 vinyl LPs sold during the week were either exclusive RSD releases, or albums that debuted that week. Furthermore, 68 different vinyl albums sold more than 1,000 units, compared to 17 during RSD 2013.
Independent record stores – the only stores allowed to participate in this annual music junkie event – saw their sales grow 91% compared to the previous business week. In 2013, the week-over-week improvement was a mere 59%. What’s more, these shops set a SoundScan record for highest weekly share in physical album sales (19%).
Here’s a look at how things shook down on the Billboard charts:
Billboard‘s Vinyl Albums
(chart dated May 3, reflecting sales in the week ending April 20)
1. Childish Gambino: Because the Internet (Glassnote)
2. The Afghan Whigs: Do To the Beast (Sub Pop)
3. Notorious B.I.G.: Life After Death (Bad Boy/Rhino)
4. Bruce Springsteen: American Beauty (EP) (Columbia)
5. The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Live At Monterey (Experience
Hendrix/Legacy)
6. Grateful Dead: Hampton Coliseum: Friday May 4, 1979 (Grateful
Dead/Rhino)
7. Tame Impala: Live Versions (Modular/Interscope/IGA)
8. Joy Division: An Ideal For Living (EP) (Warner UK/Rhino)
9. The Flaming Lips: 7 Skies H3 (Lovely Sorts Of Death/Warner Bros.)
10. The Ramones: Meltdown With the Ramones EP (Sire/Rhino)
Billboard‘s Hot Singles Sales
(chart dated May 3, reflecting sales in the week ending April 20)
1. Nirvana, “Pennyroyal Tea” (Sub Pop/Geffen/Interscope)
2. Devo/The Flaming Lips, “Gates of Steel” (Live) (Warner Bros./Rhino)
3. The Cure/Dinosaur Jr., “Just Like Heaven” (Fiction/Elektra/Rhino)
4. David Bowie, “1984” (Parlophone/Rhino)
5. Love/Rush, “7 and 7 Is” (Elektra/Rhino)
6. Frank Zappa, “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” (Zappa/UMe)
7. Poison Idea/Pantera, “The Badge” (East West/Rhino)
8. Paramore, “Ain’t It Fun” (Fueled By Ramen/RRP)
9. Fleetwood Mac, “Dragonfly” (Reprise/Warner Bros./Rhino)
10. Garbage With Brody Dalle, “Girls Talk” (Stun Volume)
-Adam Grant
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