Taylor Swift Among Artists Responsible For First Increase In Physical Album Sales In 20 Years
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Taylor Swift, Liam Gallagher & John Squire and Rod Stewart & Jools Holland are among the artists who have ensured that physical music sales are on course for their first increase in two decades.
The new edition of Music Week reveals that physical album sales increased by 3.2% year-on-year to 8,044,760 units in the first six months of 2024. The half-year figures from the Official Charts Company and BPI also show increasing momentum with sales up 3.9% in the second quarter.
Overall physical album sales have not registered a year-on-year increase since 2004, when there was a 2.6% uplift to 163.4 million units.
With 254,241 physical sales so far this year, Taylor Swift’s long-running No.1 LP The Tortured Poets Department and her catalogue have made a significant contribution to the market growth.
In addition to The Tortured Poets Department, the Top 5 physical sellers for the first six months were Swing Fever by Rod Stewart & Jools Holland (48,540 sales), the self-titled album by Liam Gallagher & John Squire (46,982), Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard And Soft (45,434) and The Last Dinner Party’s debut Prelude To Ecstasy (42,352.)
Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism was at No 6 overall for physical sales, although based on vinyl sales alone it made No 5 overall for the first six months (19,328 vinyl LPs).
Speaking to Music Week, Dr Jo Twist OBE, BPI chief executive, said: “Ever since sales of vinyl LPs started rising again more than 15 years ago, the compact disc has been in the shadow of the older physical format, so it’s heartening to see that, after years of significant declines, the CD market is potentially on the up again.
“Thanks to record labels, music fans now have more choice than ever to enjoy releases by their favourite artists, from the mass-market penetration of streaming to an array of physical formats which have a complementary relationship to streaming and help to reinforce the special bond that exists between creator and consumer.”