Tesco to become the first UK supermarket to sell vinyl records

Would you pick up a vinyl record along with a loaf and a pint of semi-skimmed?
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Would you pick up a vinyl record along with a loaf and a pint of semi-skimmed? Well Tesco are to become the first UK supermarket to sell vinyl as it prepares to stock its first LP this week.

The supermarket giant will trial sales of vinyl this Friday (September 4), beginning with the release of Iron Maiden's new album The Book Of Souls.

The news comes as vinyl record sales passed the one million mark last year for the first time in two decades - and have already surpassed that figure in 2015.

Tesco music buyer Michael Mulligan told Engadget: "In the last year we began selling record decks in our largest stores and initial sales are very encouraging so giving our customers some new vinyl to play on those decks seems like the logical next step."

Engadget reports that The Book Of Souls LP will cost £24 and will go on sale in 55 of Tesco's biggest Extra stores, while the CD will also be available in 850 supermarkets as well as online. 

The news comes as Official Charts launched the Official Vinyl Albums and Singles Charts following a strong resurgence of the format earlier this year. To date, the biggest selling vinyl album of the year is Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' Chasing Yesterday - click here to see the full Official Top 40

MORE: See this week's Official Vinyl Singles Top 40

MORE: See this week's Official Vinyl Albums Top 40 

If the trial is success, a wider selection of vinyl albums are expected to make their way on to store shelves by the end of the year. 

Would you buy your vinyl records from Tesco? Leave your comments below:

Article image: Rex

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Barry

0

Tesco are just hopping on the bandwagon, just like the major record labels,. Shame they all turned their backs on the format when they heralded the introduction of the CD. It's the independents that have mainly kept this format going for decades and the pressing plants in work. Now the majors are taking up the capacities in plants with their reissues of Dire Straits albums and their money making super deluxe edition box sets for astronomical monetary amounts and the indies are playing second fiddle. All this without investment in the plants and the machines needed to expand production in an industry experiencing regrowth. Without that investment they will end up killing it off and devaluing it, as they have with the CD ironically. Tesco's price point isn't exactly cheap, but they will create convenience. If successful, they will expand their offer, and picking up the latest release whilst doing your weekly shop will be easy. Therefore taking up more production space and driving down prices via volume orders. My loyalties lie with the artist, but also with the outlets who supported the format and made it available for me to purchase over the years while others moved on to what made them the most money. I know that's business, but without investment, it means nothing.

DK

Dave Kelly

1

Let's hope the tesco in the isle of man stock viynl asap then

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Steven Holt

-1

This story is a load of rubbish. I bought a George Formby vinyl LP from my local Asda in Bury on 16 th Aug 1969. Over 45 years ago!

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Official Charts

2

Vinyl would have been the dominant music format back then, so of course. We're talking specifically here about the modern era where digital dominates (and CDs in supermarkets), this is an interesting shift for the type of formats available to supermarket shoppers in 2015.

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Brett

-1

I hate Tesco so much, is no small business safe from their greed? Just when record stores were starting to do a little better.