Vinyl just had its best sales week in three decades.
Americans bought 2.11 million copies of vinyl records in the week ending on Dec. 23, marking the biggest sales week for vinyls since MRC Data began tracking music sales back in 1991, Billboardreports. It’s a 45% increase from the week prior (1.46 million), suggesting the spike can be attributed to the holiday shopping season.
The previous record was set last Christmas, when 1.84 million vinyl LPs were sold in the week ending on Dec. 24.
Last week’s best-selling vinyl LP was Adele’s latest album, 30, which moved 59,000 copies and topped Billboard‘s weekly Vinyl Albums chart for a fifth straight week, to become the best-selling vinyl album of 2021.
According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), more than five million vinyl records were sold in 2021, which marks the 14th consecutive year in which vinyl sales have surpassed sales in the previous year.
Speaking with NME about the milestone, Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the BPI, Brit Awards & Mercury Prize, said, “It’s a great time to be a music fan, with wider choice on offer than ever before supported by great value.”
He pointed to “record label investment into new music and talent,” as reasons why “fans can purchase and collect the music they most love on vinyl, CD and even cassette, whilst also enjoying access to over 70 million songs to stream instantly whenever and how often they want, in turn enabling a new generation of artists to create music and sustain successful careers in a global market.”
