Ever wondered what the 15 most popular vinyl records are on Discogs? Find out here.
Do you remember the first time you ever listened to vinyl? For many people, it’s a cherished memory. Vinyl records have been making a comeback in recent years, as more and more people are discovering the unique sound that they provide. If you’re one of those people who love vinyl records, you’ve likely found yourself wondering which are the most popular vinyl records.
Money.co.uk recently set out to answer that question for you Using data from Discogs.com, they compiled a list of the 100 most owned vinyls. Afterwards, they developed a popularity score for each album based on the number of people who own the album and those who want it.
Join us as we explore their findings below:
The most popular vinyl album via their research is Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, which has an overall 9.06/10 rating in their study. Over 11,000 visitors want the record, and it is owned by approximately 22,802 music fans on Discogs. Pink Floyd did very well on the list, as the legendary The Wall ranks No. 3, while the reissued and remastered The Dark Side Of The Moon 180 gram vinyl comes in at No. 4.
Daft Punk‘s double album Random Access Memories received an overall grade of 8.63/10, placing second in the list. There are over 18,000 Discogs.com fans eager to obtain the record, while over 51,000 individuals currently own it.
In fifth place is Michael Jackson‘s 1982 release Thriller, which has an 8.28/10 popularity rating. This album was notable for all of its singles hitting the top 10 in the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, as well as Jackson’s first number one on the LPs and Tapes chart in America.
Rounding off the list in 15th place is Radiohead with their 180 gram LP ‘In Rainbows’, with an overall popularity score of 7.46/10.
After finding the most popular albums, Money.co.uk set out to find the most popular artists on Discogs, determining this by the numbers of people owning their records. Below were their findings:
The Beatles are crowned as the most popular artists avec over 3 million Discogs.com music lovers owning a copy of their albums.
Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert at money.co.uk, commented on the findings:
“With the surge in vinyl sales around the world, the increasing appeal of these collectables has certainly piqued the interest of the younger generation. Although it is fun and thrilling to delve into the world of turntables, getting your hands on your favourite artist’s vinyl can often be tricky and sometimes pricey.
These are some pointers for locating uncommon vinyl records at the greatest price and quality:
- Purchasing second-hand – Visit record stores or flea markets if you’re looking for thrill of the hunt. In person, there’s a better possibility of haggling prices and inspecting the condition than if you do it online. Of course, you may also purchase vinyl records from an online store, but there are downsides to this as you must rely on the seller’s description. Furthermore, improper packing methods, or careless handling during shipment might cause damage to the vinyl. Purchase online at your own risk.
- Double check the condition – It’s rare to come across second-hand vinyl records in excellent condition. Examine the album for scratches or depressions on the surface, as well as the sleeve and any inserts for tears or discolouration.
- Le Goldmine Grading Guide – For a more thorough check, you can follow the Goldmine Grading Guide which helps not only sellers but also buyers to distinguish a high quality record according to its assigned standard grades.”
Methodology Behind The Study:
- Money.co.uk wanted to find the most popular vinyl records and artists of all time.
- To do this, Discogs.com — a music database and marketplace, was scraped to obtain data for 1.3 million vinyl listings.
- From this, the top 100 most ‘owned’ vinyl records were gathered. The number of people who ‘want’ each album was also noted for the research.
- Utilising the number who ‘own’ and the number who ‘want’ each of the 100 albums, the PERCENTRANK and VLOOKUP functions on Excel were then implemented to each album to apply an overall average popularity score for each.
- The popularity score is also calculated using the popularity of the artist themselves (based on the data on the total number of ‘want’ and ‘have’ for each artist). For example, although Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’ has more wants, Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ album is higher in the rankings as they are a more popular artist ultimately bringing their score up.
- Lastly, the total average scores were multiplied by 10 to give each album a final score out of 10 and ranked – the higher the score, the more popular the album.
- In order to find the most popular artists, a comprehensive list of artists were compiled from the data and they were ranked based on the number of people who own their vinyl records.
*Each album reflects different formats, the full description of the album codes and format can be found here: https://www.discogs.com/help/formatslist.
Sources: Journalistic.org / Money.co.uk / Discogs.com
