Vinyl records have made a remarkable comeback over the past decade and LP sales continue to grow year after year. In 2022, more than 43 million vinyl albums were sold in the United States, up from less than 5 million a year for more than a decade from 1995 to 2010.
But who is driving the resurgence of what is arguably the most beautiful physical music medium at a time when the vast majority of music consumption happens digitally, mostly on smartphones? A look at the best-selling vinyl albums in the United States last year shows that the LP comeback isn’t just fueled by nostalgia and baby boomers listening to their favorite music in the way they did in their youth.
In fact, just one of the ten best-selling vinyl albums of 2023 was from the LP era, namely Fleetwood Max’s “Rumours” (1975), ranked ninth. According to Luminate, Taylor Swift dominated vinyl sales like she did everything else last year with five of her albums among the best-selling vinyl records of 2023. With more than one million units sold "1989 (Taylor's Version)" was the best-selling vinyl album of the year, followed by "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" and "Midnights", both also by Taylor Swift.
