London / Lancashire, 10th March 2026 Townsend—the UK-based global direct-to-consumer e-commerce music retailer and distributor—has unveiled its all-new music store and Townsend Exclusive Vinyl offering, following a year in which it powered three UK #1s within 26 Top 10 album campaigns with 34% average week-one market share.
As the D2C landscape becomes increasingly important to artist campaigns in bolstering revenue globally, the proudly Northern-headquartered independent company boasts a proprietary in-house platform for the Townsend Music Store with an integrated, all-in-one service model and a real-time data dashboard, further reinforcing its reputation as a long-established, trusted specialist at the forefront of technology in this area.
Additionally, the Townsend Exclusive Vinyl series forms part of the company’s broader strategy to drive incremental physical sales within artist campaigns and support additive pre-order chart moments. The limited-edition vinyl is predominantly pressed by globally renowned manufacturer Record Industry – also part of The Artone Group – which is the only pressing plant in the world with all vinyl manufacturing facilities under one roof.
Initial TEV releases launching on the new Townsend Music Store include a 1,000-copy limited edition of Van Morrison’s album Somebody Tried To Sell Me A Bridge (in partnership with Orangefield Records), pressed on 180-gram smokey black and gold double heavyweight vinyl, and a 500-copy pressing of Frank Turner’s Campfire Punkrock (20th Anniversary Edition) (in partnership with Xtra Mile Recordings) on 180-gram yellow flame colour heavyweight vinyl with six bonus live tracks as digital content to download or stream from Townsend’s platform.
These milestones build on Townsend’s success in 2025 that drew 8.1 million unique visitors across more than 1,000 artist and label D2C stores (including Barry Can’t Swim, The Black Keys, Blossoms, D-Block Europe, Gary Numan, Jorja Smith, Leigh-Anne, Kylie, Noel Gallagher, The Prodigy, Shed Seven), including, on average, 1,000 new daily opted-in fans captured directly into artists’ own databases across the platform with conversion averaging 2.6x industry benchmarks across all stores, and average daily customer order fulfillment at 1,200 per day, demonstrating consistent audience growth and scalability.
Bruce McKenzie, Sales Director for Townsend Music, says: “Through investing in this new iteration of the Townsend store, we are proud to support talent – from rising to established – in giving fans the best music and merchandise experience, and ultimately creating long-term value.
“Kicking off the Townsend Exclusive Vinyl series with two great singer-songwriters in Van Morrison and Frank Turner is the first iconic chapter here, with more special products to come from much-loved artists across a spectrum of genres.”
Lucas Barr, Operations Director for Townsend Music, adds: “We pride ourselves on being a secret weapon, acting as an extra team member on each artist campaign, always striving to provide best-in-market service for our clients.
“Bringing the next stage of Townsend Music’s evolution to our existing artist and label stores, and beyond, reinforces our commitment to being a trusted collaborator, helping our clients achieve many more cultural and chart milestones.”
Townsend Music UK Official Charts snapshot of 2025:
- Number one album campaigns – Kylie Minogue, The K’s, The Lottery Winners.
- Top 5 album campaigns – D-Block Europe, The Darkness, Deacon Blue, The Divine Comedy, James Morrison, The Kooks, Laufey, Olly Murs, Richard Ashcroft, The Royston Club, The Sherlocks, Suede, Steven Wilson, Wombats.
- Top 10 album campaigns – Amy Macdonald, Barry Can’t Swim, Nemzzz, James, Louise, Madness, Pendulum, Peter Doherty, Red Rum Club.
At the end of 2025, Townsend ran the official D2C store for the release of Kylie Christmas (Fully Wrapped). Tightly coordinated physical releases alongside digital singles enabled the capture of peak fan demand, aligning format and timing with meticulous execution. The outcome: a UK No.1 album and 2025’s Christmas No.1 single.
“Townsend Music has been our go-to D2C platform, and has been an integral part of executing high-charting album campaigns for the likes of Blue, The Darkness, Shed Seven, and many more. The team there are a big part of the reason our campaigns are so slick.”
– Tom Newman, Head of Frontline Releases, Cooking Vinyl
“We have worked with Townsend for 15 years, Bruce and the team are magic, as is their platform.”
– John Fairs, Manager to The Prodigy
Notes to Editors
In March 2026, ERA reported that vinyl now represents over 9% of total music spending, with the format fuelling an 18th consecutive year of growth in the UK – increasing in both volume and value. In the physical music market, combined spending on vinyl, CDs, and other physical formats rose 11.5% YoY – value £368m – with vinyl up 18.6%. Overall, retail sales of music are valued at £2.45bn (YoY increase of 4.2%). The UK music market delivered its 12th consecutive year of growth in 2025, driven by a steep increase in spending on vinyl, with LPs sold in the year over 8m, marking a 13.3% increase (generating £232.2m at retail). Across the music, video, and games sectors, the music sector remains the highest in physical terms at 15% (versus digital), with home delivery accounting for more than half of physical music sales.
In December 2025, BPI analysis of Official Charts Data reported recorded music growth, within this ‘album sales across all physical formats grew for a second consecutive year in 2025, maintaining 2024’s 1.4% growth level to come in at 17.6 million units… physical formats continue to play a leading role in determining the No.1 on the Official Albums Chart [many] first week at the top achieved with a majority of physical sales.’
About Townsend Music
Founded in 1978 in Great Harwood, Lancashire, England, Townsend started life as a record shop selling musical instruments, records and merchandise to local music lovers. Having expanded to four retail outlets over the next 20 years, in 2012, it responded to emerging market trends by revising its business model to focus on creating an effective D2C solution for clients in the music industry. The company developed its own proprietary D2C stores platform and set up its first warehouse facility for in-house order fulfilment as part of a full turnkey solution.
Townsend provides technology solutions and marketing support dedicated to direct-to-fan commerce, known for its trusted partnerships with artists, labels, and fans. It operates 1,000+ artist stores from modern to classic heritage names, with clients including Barry Can’t Swim, Blossoms, D-Block Europe, Gary Numan, Jorja Smith, Leigh-Anne, Kylie, Noel Gallagher, Prodigy, Shed Seven, and many more.
Townsend Music is multi-currency and chart-eligible in 18 countries for physical sales, and 12 for digital sales, more than any other UK-based D2C provider, and regularly drives UK Top 10 album campaigns with strong week-one market share across releases – all powered by their own platform.
In 2024, it was acquired by Dutch company Artone, joining a stable of companies including Bertus, Music On Vinyl, Proper Distribution. It is part of the Chart Committee at the Official UK Charts Company, and a member of The Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA).
Townsend-Music.com
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