Taylor Swift sells more vinyl records in the UK than any other star

Taylor Swift is expected to have sold more vinyl records in the UK in 2022 than anyone else. 

The American singer-songwriter’s tenth studio album Midnights has had more than 80,000 vinyl sales this year to date, according to analysis of Official Charts data by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). 

The album, released in October, immediately broke a string of records, including becoming Spotify‘s most streamed album in a single day. 

BPI said her vinyl sales of Midnights is set to be more than any other album has managed in a calendar year in the 21st Century. 

The industry also expects to announce that singer-songwriter and former One Direction band member Harry Styles came in at number two on the 2022 vinyl chart with Harry’s House.

Harry set a new record in May when he sold more than 36,000 vinyl LPs in the first week of release of his third album. 

Arctic Monkeys, who are set to make number three with The Car, started with close to 38,000 albums sold on vinyl. 

The industry body also sees former Oasis band frontman Liam Gallagher’s album C’mon You Know coming in fourth while Isle of Wight indie rock band Wet Leg’s, Wet Leg will land at number five in the chart. 

BP said 2022 will mark the 15th consecutive year of growth for vinyl since 2007 and its highest volume level for the format since 1990. 

Geoff Taylor, chief executive BPI, BRIT Awards & Mercury Prize, said: ‘Vinyl’s revival has been one of the most welcome success stories of recent times. 

‘While initially this renaissance was built largely on older music fans reconnecting with treasured past albums and on younger generations newly discovering classic releases, increasingly the ongoing rise in LP sales has been driven by brand new releases.’ 

He added: ‘As the LP marks its 75th anniversary in 2023, it’s as relevant as ever, highlighting that, in an age of streaming, physical music purchases remain an essential and healthy part of the music market.’ 

BPI said there has been a shift in the vinyl market to new releases instead of old albums being bought by the public. 

Vinyl made up about 57 per cent of the sales of the top 100 titles in 2022, with around 50 of these albums released this year. 

In 2017, albums released that year accounted for 31.3 per cent of sales of the year’s 100 biggest vinyl LPs with new albums having 31 places on the chart. 

The 1977 album Rumours by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac and hit album AM, released in 2013, by rock band Arctic Monkeys were the only ones this year set to make the top 10 that were not released in 2022. 

This year’s Being Funny In A Foreign Language by pop rock band The 1975, rock band Muse’s Will Of The People and Irish rock band Fontaines D.C.’s Skinty Fia are also expected to make it on the chart list. The BPI will report its final music consumption figures on January 2023.

Meanwhile, Taylor has helped propel the selling of vinyl albums so high that they have outsold CDs for the first time in 35 years.

Her fanbase has made the singer’s album Midnights the biggest-selling vinyl record of the century in the UK.

This has helped push annual revenues made by the sale of vinyl albums above the CD for the first time since 1987, according to the Guardian.

While CD sales have been on the decline for the past two decades, the popularity of vinyls has made a comeback in recent years.

Speaking to the publication, Kim Bayley, the chief executive of the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), said: ‘It’s a watershed moment for the entire music industry.

‘After the CD came along and pretty much wiped out the vinyl business, few of us would have believed a renaissance like this was possible.’

Midnights has sold more than six million album equivalent units worldwide, three million of them in the US.

Taylor broke a record for the sales by moving that many units in just two months, according to NME. 

Midnights also had the distinction of becoming the first album to sell more than one million physical copies since 2015.

Adding to the impressive accomplishments, the Anti-Hero singer becomes the only artist ever to have five albums with over one million units sold during their release week. 

In a statement released by Universal Music Group, Chairman & CEO Sir Lucian Grainge said: ‘Taylor is a multidimensional creative force whose achievements place her among the most accomplished artists in the history of music, and we are thrilled and honored to partner with her across so many aspects of her career.’

Taylor, who turned 33 on December 13 was also celebrating her nomination from the Society of Composers and Lyricists Awards on Thursday for Outstanding Song For A Drama/Documentary for her tune Carolina, from the film Where the Crawdads Sing.

The Grammy winner will be competing against Rihanna’s Lift Me Up from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Lady Gaga’s Hold My Hand from Top Gun: Maverick, Applause, written by Diane Warren from Tell It Like A Woman, and (You Made It Feel Like) Home” from Bones and All, which was written by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

The nomination unofficially shortlists Taylor’s song for Academy Award contention. 

The Amsterdam actress is set to begin her The Eras tour in March, and is scheduled to perform some 52 shows at stadiums across North America through August. 

In spite of difficulties buying tickets online, Taylor has already sold some two-point-four million tickets, breaking the record for single day sales and making The Eras Tour the top-grossing tour ever for a female artist. 

Tickets are still available for various locations via online vendors such as Stub Hub, Seat Geek and Vivid Seats. 

Some fans who were unable to buy seats the day tickets went on sale are suing Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation, alleging fraud, misrepresentation and antitrust violations over its botched Eras Tour ticket sales.