麻豆传媒

Skip to main content

Taylor Swift helps drive U.K. vinyl sales to highest level since 1990

Taylor Swift attends the 65th Grammy Awards in February 2023 in Los Angeles. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) Taylor Swift attends the 65th Grammy Awards in February 2023 in Los Angeles. (Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
Share
London -

Sales of vinyl records in the United Kingdom have surged this year to hit the highest level since 1990 鈥 with a little help from Taylor Swift.

Vinyl sales have jumped 11.7 per cent so far in 2023 to 5.9 million units, according to released Thursday by the British Phonographic Industry, an association of U.K. record companies and labels.

That鈥檚 more than four times the increase in sales in 2022 and marks the 16th consecutive year of rising sales for the classic format, according to a BPI analysis of data from , which tracks U.K. music sales and streams.

Last week alone, the trade body said, consumers bought more than 250,000 vinyl albums, making it the biggest week of sales this century.

Swift鈥檚 鈥1989 (Taylor鈥檚 Version)鈥 album 鈥 originally released in 2014 鈥 sold the most copies so far this year, followed by The Rolling Stones鈥 鈥淗ackney Diamonds,鈥 Lana Del Rey鈥檚 鈥淒id You Know Know There鈥檚 A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd鈥 and Swift鈥檚 鈥淪peak Now (Taylor鈥檚 Version).鈥

The surge in vinyl sales comes as the physical music market 鈥 which includes vinyl records, CDs and cassette tapes 鈥 continues to grow, even as streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music retain their dominance of the overall music market.

In the United States, physical music sales during the first half of 2023 hit the highest level since 2013, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Still, streaming services accounted for 84 per cent of the total revenues from recorded music sales over that same six-month period, RIAA said, with paid subscriptions the 鈥渟trongest driver鈥 of revenue growth.

In the U.K., 80 per cent of recorded music is listened to on streaming platforms, according to the BPI.

鈥淟ed by vinyl, the resurgence of physical product underlines the resilience of the UK music market at a time when streaming consumption continues to hit record levels,鈥 Jo Twist, BPI鈥檚 chief executive, said in a statement.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

British Columbia saw a rare unanimous vote in its legislature in October 2019, when members passed a law adopting the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, setting out standards including free, prior and informed consent for actions affecting them.

Two and a half years after losing her best friend and first love to suicide, Brooke Ford shared her story of grief and resilience at the CMHA Windsor-Essex Suicide Awareness Walk.

A pedestrian has died after reportedly getting struck by an OPP cruiser in Bala early Sunday morning.

opinion

opinion How to make the most out of your TFSA

The Tax-Free Savings Account can be a powerful savings tool and investment vehicle. Financial contributor Christopher Liew explains how they work and how to take full advantage of them so you can reach your financial goals faster.

Local Spotlight

When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.

A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.

A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.

Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.

Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.

A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.

An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.

An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.