Tesco supermarkets will stock vinyl

Tesco is to become the first supermarket in the UK to sell vinyl in-store. There are no plans to create cordoned-off record aisle packed with self-released 7” singles or limited run LPs just yet; Tesco will be starting out small by stocking Iron Maiden’s new album ‘The Book of Souls’, in 55 of their largest Extra stores from this Friday (September 4th).

Tesco music buyer Michael Mulligan put the decision down to the increasing popularity of vinyl Speaking to Engadget, he said “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.”

Vinyl sales account for 2% of UK music sales, according to British Phonographic Industry, and at the beginning of this year, sales topped 1.3 million for the first time since 1995. It seems likely Tesco are trying to get in on a growing market.

Tesco’s cassette only record label might be a long way off right now, but every little helps.