Taylor Swift Songs are Bringing Back a Vinyl Revolution That May Change the Face of $55B Music Industry Forever
When we think about something Taylor Swift cannot do or achieve, absolutely nothing comes to mind. Already helmed as the trendsetter in the modern music industry, Swift has numerous achievements to her name. From being the first woman to have four albums in the Billboard Chart Top 10 simultaneously to being the female artist with the most concert attendees, Swift is riding the high tide in her career lately with no plans to slow down.
Taylor Swift Eyes a Vinyl Revival
The phase of Taylor Swift being just another singer and songwriter is long gone. The global icon and her career trajectory are an inspiration to many. Adding another feather to her cap, Swift is on her way to bringing back vinyl records to the market. Reminiscent of a golden era when people used to buy and collect valuable vinyl discs of their favorite tracks, vinyl records have not seen such a rise in sales since the 1990s.
To calculate inflation and deduce economic statistics, the Office for National Statistics received vinyl records this year along with other important products that help determine the intricacies of prices and demand. This itself shows how vinyl is on the revival curve and will make a comeback soon. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was the highest-selling vinyl record of 2023 with the UK’s overall vinyl sales witnessing an increase after 1990.
As reported by BBC, the last time the ONS got their hands on vinyl records for the inflation check was in 1992. With the music industry burgeoning and aiming to touch about $60 billion this year, we see an intrinsic need among people to be able to interact with the music they love. Since music is intangible, and after the pandemic we have experienced, people are looking to be able to touch and feel the records and amass a considerable collection.
Taylor Swift’s Record Vinyl Sales
With over 575,000 sales, Swift holds the record for garnering the highest vinyl album sales in the first week of the release of Midnights, with Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) following not that far behind with 268,500 vinyl record sales. As reported by Forbes, the Bejeweled star had a 7% share in the total vinyl sales of last year. Being the bestselling musician and the highest-streamed singer is just the tip of the iceberg as Swift’s influence on the music industry and the world in extension runs deeper than we have deduced so far.
In total, Swift sold 3.484 million vinyl albums in 2023. Her sales not only reflect her stature in the industry but also point to the bigger picture that is witnessing a resurgence in vinyl sales across the globe. Her version of the album 1989 is not just the bestselling record of 2023, but also the only record to cross the one million sales mark. We wouldn’t have imagined the impact of Swift’s unparalleled influence in our wildest dreams, and yet the singer continues to leave her fans enchanted.
