Vinyl Albums Breaking Modern Sales Records
Just before the new year, we found out how vinyl fared in the UK in 2022. Well, looks like the vinyl boom is also still going strong in the US and Australia. In 2022, for the second year in a row, vinyl sales outsold CDs in the US, according to the Year End Music Report and Billboard Likewise, vinyl sales grew for a 17th consecutive year in the US, with Taylor Swift’s Midnights being the top-selling vinyl in 2022 with 945,000 copies sold last year. In other words, Midnights was not just the top-selling album of the year, it had the most vinyl sales in a year since Luminate — formerly SoundScan — began tracking in 1991. One out of every 25 vinyl albums sold was a Taylor Swift album, if you count Folklore‘s #7 spot.
Overall, last year’s top vinyl sellers (in the US) were as follows:
01 Taylor Swift, Midnights (945,000)
02 Harry Styles, Harry’s House (480,000)
03 Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (263,000)
04 Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city (254,000)
05 Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (243,000)
06 Tyler, the Creator, Call Me If You Get Lost (211,000)
07 Taylor Swift, Folklore (174,000)
08 Tyler, the Creator, Igor (172,000)
09 Michael Jackson, Thriller (168,000)
10 The Beatles, Abbey Road (160,000)
In a funny bit of irony, the report also states that only half of fans buying records actually own a record player. (Hey, I have a cheapie turntable, but if I’m being honest, most of my vinyl decorates the walls of my apartment.) But note: the respondents for Luminate’s Music 360 study, which asked respondents which devices they owned, amounted to just 3,992.
As for cassette tapes, in 2022 sales in the US increased by 28% to 440,000, up from 343,000 in 2021. The #1 cassette there turned out to be — fittingly — the Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 soundtrack. Check out the top 10 cassette albums in the US, courtesy of Luminate.
01 Guardians Of The Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 (Soundtrack) (17,000)
02 Taylor Swift, Midnights (14,000)
03 Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (Soundtrack) (13,000)
04 Harry Styles, Harry’s House (11,000)
05 Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever (8,000)
06 Guardians Of The Galaxy: Cosmic Mix, Vol. 1 (Soundtrack) (8,000)
07 Nirvana, Bleach (7,000)
08 Bo Burnham, Inside (The Songs) (5,000)
09 Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG (5,000)
10 Ghost, Impera (5,000)
Originally Published January 11, 2023 8:51 pm