MusicWatch answers questions about who’s buying vinyl

New MusicWatch data explores the surging interest in vinyl among modern music buyers. “Although vinyl is not growing as rapidly as on-demand streaming the format continues to grow, thanks to continued interest from younger consumers who keep it hip,” the analysis finds.

One facet of the data is a breakdown between purchases of new versus used vinyl. Used records have a higher monthly average of buyers in the U.S. than new. More than half (58%) of vinyl buyers only purchased used, while 32% only bought new and 11% spent for both.

The study also broke down the age groups who are buying this music format. Among all vinyl listeners, age 55+ was the largest at 26%, but followed closely by ages 13-24 at 24%. The 25-34 group accounted for 20%. The younger ages were most interested in new vinyl – 13-24 was 34% and 25-34 was 27% – and also took the biggest shares in used vinyl – 27% for 13-24 and 32% for 25-34.