For the first time in forty years, vinyl sales in the United States have reached one billion dollars annually, fueled in part by the success of the latest album by the American pop star.
A first since 1983. While music consumption has been increasingly digital since the era of streaming, the vinyl market has been surprisingly gaining momentum. In the United States, sales of LPs and singles have seen significant growth over the past nineteen years, reaching 46.8 million units sold last year. This marks an increase of 7.9% compared to 2024, as reported by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) cited in the US press.
With this growth, the most significant in about forty years, vinyl purchases have exceeded the billion-dollar mark. They were strongly driven by the success of the latest album by Taylor Swift, titled “The Life of a Showgirl.” Since its release in October, the album has been selling like hotcakes in all formats. The global pop star sold the most vinyl records in 2025 with around 1.6 million copies.
An innovative marketing strategy
To achieve these figures, the singer of “Shake it Off” implemented an innovative marketing strategy, releasing a total of eight vinyl versions of her album with different covers, colors, some including unreleased tracks, photographs, and posters. However, this strategy has sparked criticism.
Some internet users questioned whether Taylor Swift produced these different versions to please her audience or simply to sell more copies of her album. Singer Billie Eilish, who presses her vinyl records using recycled materials, particularly highlighted the environmental impact of her rival’s approach. “Some of the world’s greatest artists release 40 different vinyl box sets, each with its own uniqueness, just to encourage you to buy more, and it’s wasteful,” she pointed out a few months ago.
Apart from Taylor Swift, vinyl sales in the United States have been boosted by the success of the album “Man’s Best Friend” by Sabrina Carpenter, selling 292,000 copies, as well as “GNX,” an album by rapper Kendrick Lamar, which received a Grammy Award and sold over 272,000 copies. Also making it to the top 10 of sales are the albums “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac and “Thriller” by Michael Jackson. Despite the resurgence of interest in vinyl, it currently represents only 10% of music sales in the United States in 2025. For comparison, the streaming market generates $9.5 billion in revenue each year.
