Album Sales
Vinyl Outsells CDs for the First Time Since the Mid-’80s
A new report from the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America) found that vinyl album revenues of $232 million accounted for 62% of total physical revenues (CDs, vinyl), marking the first time vinyl exceeded CD sales since the mid-1980s. By comparison, $129.9 million was spent on compact discs. That said, vinyl sales still only accounted for 4% of total recorded music revenues. In total, revenue for the music business increased by 5.6%, totaling $5.7 billion in the first half of 2020, due to a growth in streaming revenue (paid subscriptions were up 24% and overall streaming revenue was up 14%). “These are historically difficult times: the live music sector is shut down; studio recording is limited, and millions of Americans are out of work across the broader economy,” RIAA chairm...
After Just One Week, Taylor Swift’s folklore Is Already the Top-Selling Album of 2020
Last week, Taylor Swift ditched her usual lengthy album rollout plan in favor of something quick and easy — and it seems to have paid off tremendously. Just seven days after its release, folklore is already the top selling album of 2020. According to a press release, the Lover follow-up reigns supreme with over two million sales worldwide. These impressive stats also cement Swift as the only female “to have seven albums each sell at least 500,000 copies in a single week.” Across the pond, folklore serves as the biggest UK debut for a female artist this year. Historically, she is the “first and only female artist in the 21st century” to score five No. 1 albums in the country. Swift’s streaming numbers are equally astounding. Globally, her new album has pulled in over half a billio...
Trapt’s New Album Only Sells 600 Copies in First Week, Band Says It’s Fake News
Lately, it seems like dubious nu-metal dinosaurs Trapt will do anything to trudge up publicity, mostly at their own expense. Unfortunately for them, it doesn’t look like all that press did much to move copies of their new album. According to Nielsen SoundScan data, only 600 copies of Trapt’s Shadow Work were sold in the first week of its release. How could the “Headstrong” band sell so few copies of their zero-acclaim new album? Well, for all intents and purposes, the album release and rollout were a complete mess. Without any semblance of a proper promotional cycle — unless you count singer Chris Brown’s racist Twitter rants and being shamed in an e-beatdown delivered by Power Trip frontman Riley Gale — there is confusion as to when Shadow Work even came out. Whil...
