Vinyl Sales in the U.S. Just Hit a Record High During Christmas Week

Congratulations, vinyl record enthusiasts: The sales of vinyl LPs just hit an all-time high in the United States.

According to Billboard (citing Nielsen Music/MRC Data), a whopping 1.842 million records sold in the country the week ending on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve — shattering a record in the process:

That’s the largest week for the format since Nielsen Music/MRC Data began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. The previous high was set only a week earlier, when 1.445 million were sold in the frame ending Dec. 17.

The resurgence of vinyl over the past few years has been noteworthy — the Recording Industry Association of America noted back in September that sales for the first half of 2020 accounted for more than $232 million of music sales, compared to $129.9 million for CDs. More, via the RIAA’s handy informational .PDF:

Vinyl album revenues of $232 million were 62% of total physical revenues, marking the first time vinyl exceeded CDs for such a period since the 1980’s, though it still only accounted for 4% of total music recorded music revenues.

It’s also worth pointing out that among the best-selling LP titles lately is Paul McCartney‘s excellent new album, McCartney III, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart after its Dec. 18 — a boost led in large part thanks to the analog format.

Click here to pick up McCartney III on vinyl — on sale now in our Rock Cellar Store. 

Via Billboard:

The album was available in more than 10 vinyl variants, which combined to sell nearly 32,000 copies in its first week – the third-largest sales week for a vinyl album since Nielsen Music/MRC Data began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. Only the debut weeks of Jack White’s Lazaretto (40,000) and Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy (34,000) were larger.

McCartney III naturally also premieres at No. 1 on the weekly Vinyl Albums chart, which ranks the top-selling vinyl LPs of the week.

Led by this recent surge in LP sales, may we all feel encouraged to do what Pearl Jam urged so enthusiastically with 1994’s Vitalogy: Spin the black circle!