World renowned pianist Rick Wakeman has predicted a revival of traditional music shops after vinyl sales started to outpace music downloads.

The former keyboard player with rock band Yes said the shift could benefit young and emerging artists.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Saturday, the writer and musician, 67, said: “The music scene is completely different…it has changed, some things for the better.

Rick has worked with some of the biggest names over the decades - including Yes.
Rick has worked with some of the biggest names over the decades – including Yes (Yui Mok/PA)

“There is much more access to music but we have lost our wonderful record shops and communal spaces.

“But I think they will come back because vinyl is outselling downloads…I think that will be a great thing for young bands as well.”

Rick recently released his solo album, Piano Portraits, which pulls together his piano scores for hit singles he has worked on throughout his career, including David Bowie’s Life on Mars and Space Oddity.

Decades after the songs themselves made headlines, Rick said he hadn’t thought of taking on the project earlier simply because “nobody asked”.

He revealed it took five weeks to put the full compilation together, even taking up to a whole day to complete a single track because he “wanted every piece to be a performance”.

Speaking of creating music with the late star Bowie, he described him as especially “generous” as a person, adding: “He invited me round his house and played these wonderful songs one after the other…When you’ve got great things to work with it’s fantastic.”