Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album rounds out 2021 as the most popular album of the year in the U.S., according to MRC Data. Meanwhile, Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” was the most-streamed song and most-heard song on the radio.
View the complete U.S. 2021 MRC Data Year-End Report, and see the year’s top 10 albums chart, along with other year-end rankings, below.
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Dangerous: The Double Album is Wallen’s second full-length studio album and was released on Jan. 8, 2021. It finishes the year with 3.226 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S. Most of that sum was driven by streaming activity of the set’s sprawling 30-song tracklist. Dangerous is the first country music release to be MRC Data’s year-end top album since 2009, when Taylor Swift’s Fearless was the champ.
2021 also marks the sixth straight year a solo male has MRC Data’s top album, following Lil Baby’s My Turn (2020), Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding (2019), Drake’s Scorpion (2018), Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) (2017) and Drake’s Views (2016). The last time an album not by a solo male was tops for the year was in 2015, when Adele’s 25 ruled.
MRC Data’s 2021 tracking year ran from Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 30, 2021.
Equivalent album units – for album titles and chart rankings cited below (but not industry volume numbers) – comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. Album titles and album chart rankings by equivalent album units do not include UGC (user-generated content) streams, but UGC streams are included in MRC Data’s industry volume numbers. (UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.)
For the sake of clarity, equivalent album units do not include listening to music on broadcast radio or digital radio broadcasts. All numbers cited in this story are rounded, and for the U.S. only. Programmed streams are not included in any of the data in this story.
MRC Data (formerly Nielsen Music and SoundScan) began tracking music sales in 1991. MRC Data’s sales, streaming and airplay data is used to compile Billboard’s weekly charts.
Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album debuted atop the weekly Billboard 200 albums chart dated Jan. 23 and spent 10 weeks at No. 1 – the most of any album in 2021. The set spent more weeks at No. 1 than any other album since Drake’s Views spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks in the lead in 2016. Dangerous includes a pair of top 10-charting hit songs on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart: “7 Summers” (No. 6 peak in August of 2020) and “Wasted on You” (No. 9 in January 2021). Both tracks also reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart.
On Feb. 2, in the middle of the album’s fourth week of release, a video emerged showing Wallen using the N-word. He subsequently issued an apology. Reaction was swift, and his music was removed from dozens of high-profile playlists on streamers such as Apple Music and Spotify, and multiple radio groups dropped his music. However, on the Billboard 200, the album posted a gain in units earned during its fourth week and held at No. 1. Dangerous remained in the top 10 of the weekly Billboard 200 chart in all but one of its 51 weeks on the list in the 2021 tracking year. Dangerous is only the seventh album released since January of 2000 to spend 50 weeks in the top 10.
TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2021 IN U.S., BY TOTAL EQUIVALENT ALBUM UNITS
1. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album (3.226 million)
2. Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (2.856 million)
3. Drake, Certified Lover Boy (1.970 million)
4. Adele, 30 (1.936 million)
5. Pop Smoke, Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon (1.533 million)
6. Doja Cat, Planet Her (1.510 million)
7. The Kid LAROI, F*ck Love (1.505 million)
8. Justin Bieber, Justice (1.473 million)
9. Dua Lipa, Future Nostalgia (1.403 million)
10. The Weeknd, After Hours (1.342 million)
Source: MRC Data, for the tracking period Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 30, 2021. UGC streams are not included in this chart, but are included in MRC Data’s on-demand streaming charts (below). MRC Data’s equivalent album unit totals include SEA and TEA for an album’s songs registered before an album’s release, but during the tracking period. For example, Adele’s 30 album unit total includes SEA and TEA for its song “Easy on Me” from Oct. 15, 2021 (its release day) through Nov. 18, 2021, before the album was released on Nov. 19, 2021.
Dangerous: The Double Album was also the most-streamed album of 2021, in terms of on-demand official streams generated by an album’s songs, with 3.94 billion streams (equating to 2.88 million SEA units of the album’s total 3.23 million units).
In terms of traditional album sales, Dangerous sold 288,000 copies (both physical and digital formats combined) – making it the tenth highest-selling album of 2021. (See list, below.)
Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album Sour is the No. 2 biggest album of 2021 by equivalent album units earned, with 2.856 million units. Drake’s Certified Lover Boy is No. 3 with 1.970 million units, Adele’s late 2021 release 30 finishes the year at No. 4 with 1.936 million units (from only six weeks of release) and Pop Smoke’s 2020 album Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon is No. 5 with 1.533 million units. (Shoot finished 2020 as the year’s No. 3 album.)
TOTAL ALBUM CONSUMPTION INCREASES 11.3%: Equivalent album units increased by 11.3% in 2021, to 893.1 million (up from 802.5 million in 2020). There were 26 albums that earned at least 1 million equivalent album units in 2021 – up from 24 in 2020.
R&B/HIP-HOP STILL DOMINATES, LATIN SURGES: R&B/hip-hop music continues to lead the way in total album consumption, with 247.5 million units earned in 2021 – holding 27.7% of total volume (893.1 million) across MRC Data’s core genres measured. R&B/hip-hop consumption increased 6.1% in 2021 over its volume in 2020 (233.3 million). (R&B/hip-hop is an umbrella genre for MRC Data that contains most titles categorized as R&B and/or rap.)
2021’s next-largest genre, by total album consumption, was rock with 178.7 million units (up 12.2% from 159.2 million in 2020). Pop music was third, with 116.5 million units (up 13.6% from 102.6 million). Country and Latin music, respectively, round out the top five genres of 2021, with 72.2 million (up 13.8% from 63.5 million in 2020) and 48.2 million (up 21.2% from 39.8 million in 2020).
Latin music had the second-largest percentage gain among MRC Data’s core genres, in terms of total album consumption in 2021, with a 21.2% increase. Notably, Latin music’s top two albums of the year were held by the same artist – Bad Bunny. His 2020 releases El Ultimo Tour del Mundo and YHLQMDLG are Nos. 1 and 2 for the Latin genre in 2021, with 854,000 and 755,000 units earned in 2021, respectively. (In 2020, the two albums closed the year as the Nos. 4 and 1 biggest Latin albums, with 1.44 million and 348,000.) El Ultimo Tour del Mundo made history in late 2020, when it debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart, becoming the first all-Spanish-language No. 1 album.
Latin’s gain trailed only the increase of the comedy music genre, which rallied 27.3% to 2.1 million units in 2021 (up from 1.7 million in 2020). The comedy genre surged in 2021 thanks largely to the success of Bo Burnham’s hit album Inside (The Songs), which earned 464,000 units in 2021. The set has spent more than 25 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Comedy Albums chart, and also reached the top 10 on the weekly all-genre Billboard 200 – the first comedy set to reach the top 10 since 2015.
ADELE’S ‘30’ IS 2021’s TOP-SELLING ALBUM: Adele’s fourth full-length studio album, 30, finishes 2021 as the year’s top-selling album in the U.S., with 1.464 million copies sold across all formats (physical and digital combined: CD, vinyl LP, cassette, digital download, etc.). 30 is the only album to sell a million copies in 2021, and did so in just six weeks of release – the album was released on Nov. 19, 2021. (See the top 10-selling albums of 2021, below.)
Adele also claimed the top-selling album in 2016 and 2015 (with 25 in both years), and in 2012 and 2011 (with 21 in both years). Adele equals Swift as the only artists to capture the top-selling album of the year five times since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991. (Swift had the top seller in 2020, 2019, 2017, 2014 and 2009.)
For the fourth year in a row, just one album sold a million copies in the U.S. In 2020, Taylor Swift’s Folklore was the only million-seller (1.28 million), in 2019, Swift’s Lover was the lone million-seller (1.09 million) and in 2018 the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman was tops with 1.49 million.
TOP 10 SELLING ALBUMS OF 2021 IN U.S. (PHYSICAL & DIGITAL SALES COMBINED)
1. Adele, 30 (1.464 million)
2. Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version) (621,000)
3. Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (557,000)
4. Taylor Swift, Evermore (529,000)
5. Taylor Swift, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (521,000)
6. Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever (430,000)
7. Harry Styles, Fine Line (317,000)
8. Taylor Swift, Folklore (304,000)
9. Carrie Underwood, My Savior (293,000)
10. Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album (288,000)
Source: MRC Data, for the tracking period Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 30, 2021.
Swift has four of the top 10-selling albums of 2021 – the first time since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991 that one artist has four of the year’s top 10 best sellers. Her 2020 releases Evermore and Folklore are Nos. 4 and 8 for the 2021 year (529,000 and 304,000 sold, thanks in part to their vinyl LP releases in 2021). Her first two rerecorded album projects, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version), both released in 2021, are Nos. 5 and 2 for the year (521,000 and 621,000).
Prior to 2021, Garth Brooks had the most year-end top 10 albums in a single year (dating to 1991), with three among the top 10 in 1992: Ropin’ the Wind (No. 2), No Fences (No. 6) and The Chase (No. 7).
Taylor Swift sold the most albums in total among all artists in 2021, with 2.36 million sold across her entire catalog and via all formats (physical and digital combined). Adele was the No. 2 biggest seller of albums, having moved 1.62 million in 2021.
U.S. ALBUM SALES INCREASE FOR FIRST TIME IN A DECADE: Total U.S. album sales increased by 6.3% in 2021 total 108.98 million (up from 102.48 million in 2020). It’s the first time overall album sales have posted a yearly increase since 2011, when sales rose by 1.3%. (A common thread in both 2021 and 2011: a new album release from Adele. Her mega-selling 21 album bowed in 2011, while 30 dropped in 2021.)
Physical album sales (CD, vinyl LP, cassette, etc.) grew by 21.7% in 2021 to 82.79 million (up from 68.06 million in 2020) – thanks largely to the continuing comeback story of the vinyl LP.
VINYL OUTSELLS CDS FOR FIRST TIME IN MODERN ERA: For the first time since MRC Data began tracking music sales in 1991, vinyl albums outsold CD albums for the year – and vinyl is now the leading format for album purchases overall in the U.S.
41.72 million vinyl albums were sold in 2021 (up 51.4% from 27.55 million in 2020). 2021 marked the 16th consecutive year vinyl album sales grew, and the largest year for vinyl album sales since MRC Data began tracking sales in 1991. Also in 2021, vinyl LP sales saw their single-largest sales week of the MRC Data era, when 2.11 million vinyl albums were sold in the week ending Dec. 23.
CD ALBUM SALES UP FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2004: 40.59 million CD albums were sold in 2021 (up 1.1% from 40.16 million in 2020), making it the second-most popular format among consumers who purchased albums. Strikingly, CD album sales posted a yearly gain for the first time since 2004, when CD sales increased 4.6% to 665.5 million (from 636.5 million in 2003).
The top-selling album on the CD format of 2021 is Adele’s 30, with 898,000 copies sold. The act who sold the most albums on the CD format in 2021 was BTS, with 1.03 million sold. Adele was the No. 2 seller on CD in 2021, with 952,000 copies sold across her entire catalog.
Digital album sales were the third-most popular format in 2021 for album purchases, and the segment fell 23.9% in 2021 to 26.19 million (down from 34.42 million in 2020).
The top-selling digital album of 2021 was Adele’s 30 with 245,000 copies sold. Swift was the top-selling artist with digital albums in 2021, with 354,000 downloads sold across her catalog in total. Adele was the runner-up in digital album sales in 2021, with 279,000 copies sold.
Vinyl was the dominant format for album purchases in the U.S. up until the early 1980s. After that, cassettes took hold until the early 1990s, when the CD format blossomed and remained king until 2021.
All album sales, and general industry trends, from March 2020 onwards should be viewed through a COVID-19-impacted lens. In the second quarter of 2020, many brick and mortar music stores had to close temporarily and alter their business model due to the pandemic. (Still, physical album sales fell only 7.4% in 2020 as compared to 2019.)
Vinyl album sales comprised 38.3% of all album sales in the U.S. in 2021 (41.72 million of 108.98 million). Further, vinyl LPs accounted for 50.4% of all physical albums sold (41.72 million of 82.79 million). Both sums are MRC Data-era records for vinyl’s share of the album sales market in the U.S.
In 2021 there were a total of 87 albums that sold at least 50,000 copies on vinyl – up from 51 in 2020. The year’s top seller is Adele’s 30, with 318,000 copies sold. Comparatively, only 67 albums on the CD format sold at least 50,000 copies in 2021, up from 65 in 2020.
Swift has three of the year’s top 10-selling vinyl albums (Nos. 3, 6 and 9, see below). Swift is also the top-selling artist on vinyl in 2021, having sold 1.09 million total vinyl LPs during the year across her entire catalog. The Beatles were the No. 2 best-selling act on vinyl in 2021, with 659,000 sold.
TOP 10 SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2021 IN U.S.
1. Adele, 30 (318,000)
2. Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (268,000)
3. Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version) (260,000)
4. Harry Styles, Fine Line (256,000)
5. Billie Eilish, Happier Than Ever (252,000)
6. Taylor Swift, Evermore (249,000)
7. Prince & The Revolution, Purple Rain (Soundtrack) (207,000)
8. The Beatles, Abbey Road (201,000)
9. Taylor Swift, Folklore (195,000)
10. Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city (194,000)
Source: MRC Data, for the tracking period Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 30, 2021.
TOTAL STREAMING GROWS 10% IN U.S.: Total U.S. on-demand song streams (audio and video combined) grew 10% to 1.13 trillion in 2021 (up from 1.03 trillion in 2020). Total on-demand audio streams jumped 12.6% to 988 billion (up from 877 billion in 2020).
The R&B/hip-hop genre held the largest share of on-demand streams (audio and video combined) in 2021, among MRC Data’s core genres measured, with 30.1% of the year’s volume (340.35 billion of 1.13 trillion). In 2020, R&B/hip-hop represented a leading 32.2% of volume.
The rock genre had the second-largest share of on-demand song streams (audio and video combined) in 2021, with 16.3% of the volume (184.28 billion of 1.13 trillion). Rock was also 2020’s second-biggest genre, with 15.9% of volume.
Looking just at on-demand audio streams for 2021, R&B/hip-hop was tops with 29.8% (294.89 billion of 988.14 billion), while rock was in second place with 17% (167.52 billion of 988.14 billion). The two genres were also the leaders in 2020, with 30.7% and 16.2% of on-demand audio streams that year, respectively.
Note: UGC streams are included in MRC Data’s industry streaming on-demand volume numbers and its year-end streaming song charts. UGC streams are not factored into any of Billboard’s weekly charts.
‘LEVITATING’ TO NO. 1: Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” was the most-streamed song of 2021 in the U.S., with 804.71 million on-demand audio and video streamed combined. It’s also the top-streamed song in terms of audio-only on-demand streams (626.56 million). The most-streamed song of 2020 was Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” with 1.32 billion clicks.
See the top 10 most-streamed songs, below.
“Levitating” was originally released in March of 2020 as part of the star’s Future Nostalgia album, and was promoted as a single in the fall of 2020. “Levitating” eventually peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, logged a record number of weeks in the top 10 for a song by a female artist (41), and was crowned the year-end No. 1 song on the Hot 100 for 2021.
For clarity, in general, all variations of a song are combined for tracking purposes in MRC Data and on Billboard’s charts. Thus, all versions of “Levitating” are combined for tracking purposes, including its assorted dance remixes and variations featuring DaBaby, and Madonna and Missy Elliott, respectively. The same goes for The Weeknd’s “Save Your Tears,” which began as a solo track in 2020, and now continues to be popular via its 2021 remix with Ariana Grande.
TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2021 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND (AUDIO & VIDEO COMBINED)
1. Dua Lipa, “Levitating” (804.71 million)
2. Olivia Rodrigo, “Drivers License” (761.58 million)
3. Olivia Rodrigo, “Good 4 U” (709.79 million)
4. Lil Nas X, “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” (684.90 million)
5. The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, “Stay” (679.90 million)
6. The Weeknd & Ariana Grande, “Save Your Tears” (677.91 million)
7. Masked Wolf, “Astronaut in the Ocean” (609.90 million)
8. Doja Cat featuring SZA, “Kiss Me More” (599.06 million)
9. Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow, “Industry Baby” (597.80 million)
10. Polo G, “Rapstar” (572.96 million)
Source: MRC Data, for the tracking period Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 30, 2021. Includes UGC streams.
TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2021 IN U.S., ON DEMAND AUDIO
1. Dua Lipa, “Levitating” (626.56 million)
2. Olivia Rodrigo, “Drivers License” (595.21 million)
3. Olivia Rodrigo, “Good 4 U” (579.61 million)
4. The Weeknd & Ariana Grande, “Save Your Tears” (558.16 million)
5. Glass Animals, “Heat Waves” (517.98 million)
6. Doja Cat featuring SZA, “Kiss Me More” (500.07 million)
7. Polo G, “Rapstar” (487.46 million)
8. The Kid LAROI & Justin Bieber, “Stay” (486.45 million)
9. Lil Nas X, “Montero (Call Me by Your Name)” (470.20 million)
10. Masked Wolf, “Astronaut in the Ocean” (452.21 million)
Source: MRC Data, for the tracking period Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 30, 2021. Includes UGC streams.
BTS’ BIG DIGITAL SALES: For the second year in a row, BTS has the year’s top-selling digital song in the U.S., as “Butter” rounds out 2021 with 1.89 million downloads sold. In 2020, the group’s “Dynamite” was the top seller, with 1.26 million sold. 2021 marks the third straight year in which only one song sold at least 1 million downloads, as digital track sales continue to erode on a yearly basis.
2021 marked the ninth consecutive year digital track sales declined, as they fell 13.2% to 202.92 million (down from 233.85 million in 2020).
TOP 10 SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2021 IN U.S.
1. BTS, “Butter” (1.89 million)
2. Walker Hayes, “Fancy Like” (499,000)
3. BTS, “Permission to Dance” (404,000)
4. Dua Lipa, “Levitating” (375,000)
5. Masked Wolf, “Astronaut in the Ocean” (325,000)
6. BTS, “Dynamite” (308,000)
7. Coldplay x BTS, “My Universe” (287,000)
8. Ed Sheeran, “Bad Habits” (282,000)
9. Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak), “Leave the Door Open” (260,000)
10. The Weeknd & Ariana Grande, “Save Your Tears” (251,000)
Source: MRC Data, for the tracking period Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 30, 2021.
DUA’S DOUBLE DUTY: Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” was not only the most-streamed song of 2021 in the U.S., but also the biggest song on the radio. The track collected 2.94 billion audience impressions across all monitored radio stations. Audience impressions are measured by cross-reference plays with Nielsen Audio audience data – i.e., a play of a song on a top-rated New York station at 8 a.m. on a Monday has more listeners (audience) than an overnight weekend play in a smaller city.
TOP 10 RADIO SONGS OF 2021 IN U.S. (BASED ON AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS)
1. Dua Lipa, “Levitating” (2.94 billion)
2. The Weeknd & Ariana Grande, “Save Your Tears” (2.41 billion)
3. Chris Brown & Young Thug, “Go Crazy” (2.21 billion)
4. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (2.13 billion)
5. Silk Sonic (Bruno Mars & Anderson .Paak), “Leave the Door Open” (2.11 billion)
6. Doja Cat featuring SZA, “Kiss Me More” (2.03 billion)
7. 24kGolden featuring Iann Dior, “Mood” (1.94 billion)
8. Ariana Grande, “Positions” (1.87 billion)
9. Olivia Rodrigo, “Good 4 U” (1.854 billion)
10. Ed Sheeran, “Bad Habits” (1.849 billion)
Source: MRC Data, for the tracking period Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 30, 2021.
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