Urban Outfitters Isn’t Actually the World’s Largest Vinyl Seller

Reportedly, Urban Outfitters chief administrative officer Calvin Hollinger made that claim to Wall Street analysts. But after reading widespread reports repeating the claim, Billboard surveyed music labels, their distributors, and wholesalers, accounting for about 80% of the U.S. music market. The end result: Urban Outfitters is like Avis, and has to try harder.
A Billboard analysis shows that Amazon is the largest seller of vinyl in the U.S., with about 12.3% market share, followed by Urban Outfitters with 8.1% market share. Rounding out the top five retail accounts selling vinyl, the next-largest is Hastings Entertainment with 2.8% of the market; Hot Topic with 2.4%; and Trans World Entertainment with 2.2%. Accounts like Audiophile, Acoustic Sounds and Newbury Comics each have market shares between 1.5% and 2%.
