Topline More than 2 million vinyl records were sold in the United States in the week ending Dec. 21, the third-largest week for vinyls since 1991, Billboard reported , largely propelled by Taylor Swift, who has led the revitalization of vinyl sales in recent years.
Key Facts There were 2.054 million vinyl albums sold during the week leading up to Christmas ranking only behind the weeks before Christmas in 2022 and 2021, which logged 2.232 million and 2.115 million vinyls sold each.
Taylor Swift’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” was the best-selling album of the week with 57,000 copies sold, and according to Billboard’s vinyl sales chart , Swift had the top four vinyls of the week and six of the top seven albums.
Swift alone made up nearly 10% of the vinyl sales for the week ending Dec. 21, Billboard reported .
The only non-Taylor Swift artist in the top seven of Billboard’s vinyl sales chart is Olivia Rodrigo, whose album “GUTS” ranks fifth.
Swift also led U.K. vinyl sales to its biggest-ever year in 2023, with “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” ranking as the year’s best-selling vinyl album and “Midnights” and “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” also ranking in the top 10.
Swift has sold 2.484 million vinyls in the United States as of Nov. 2, nearly five times as many as Lana Del Rey, the second best-selling vinyl artist of 2023, and meaning about one in every 15 vinyl purchases was a Swift album, Billboard reported .
Key Background Vinyl sales have been on the rise in recent years and Swift has led the charge, setting plenty of records for vinyl sales. In 2022, her “Midnights” was the year’s best-selling vinyl album with nearly 1 million copies sold, almost double the amount of Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House,” the second-most-popular vinyl album that year. With “Midnights,” Swift broke the record for the biggest sales week for a vinyl album with 575,000 copies sold—a record she broke again this year when “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” sold 580,000 vinyl records in its debut week. Swift has often encouraged her fans to buy vinyl records: In 2022, she served as the ambassador for Record Store Day, observed by independent record stores to celebrate sales of CDs and vinyls. In a statement for Record Store Day, Swift said it has been a “true joy for me to watch vinyl sales grow in the past few years.” For “Midnights,” Swift sold four vinyl editions of the album that form a clock when mounted together on a wall, and for “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” she sold vinyls in four different colors.
Tangent Billy Field, vice president of sales and a vinyl strategist at Warner Music Group, told CNBC vinyl sales are rising because they’re “eternally cool” and are an example of “labels’ and artists’ continued focus on the fan connection via collectible, bespoke offerings.” CNBC reported retailers like Walmart and Target began stocking vinyls in the 2010s, which helped boost sales, and many consumers began to reconnect with vinyl records during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Crucial Quote “When Taylor releases a new record, there may be eight, nine, 10, different variants of that same record — different colors, different combinations, maybe there’s some unique tracks that weren’t included on the digital release, or the CD, but you get it on the vinyl,” Mark Michaels, CEO and chairman of United Record Pressing, told CNBC. “There’s a lot of fans that say, ‘There are eight different variants. I want one of each, please.’ They’re very supportive.”
Surprising Fact About half of consumers who purchased a vinyl record within the past year don’t own a record player, according to a study conducted earlier this year by Luminate, a company that tracks music sales.
Big Number 17. That’s how many consecutive years vinyl sales have risen in the United States, with the format finally overtaking CD sales in 2022 for the first time since 1987.
Further Reading Taylor Swift Has Sold Nearly One Out of Every 15 Vinyl Albums in the U.S. This Year (Billboard)
U.S. Vinyl Album Sales Rise for 17th Straight Year — But Growth Is Slowing (Billboard)
Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Breaks Modern-Era Single-Week Vinyl Sales Record (Billboard)
Conor Murray
