By Nick Atkins

Music and video streaming is driving vinyl sales, according to research released by ICM Unlimited.

45% of vinyl buyers said that they heard an album/EP via streaming – on SoundCloud, YouTube, Spotify or another streaming service – and then bought the vinyl.

Much of this streaming is free, suggesting that music heard for free is encouraging sales of physical records. This is particularly the case for men compared to women (50% versus 36%).