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CD Sales Are Up for the First Time in 17 Years — Thanks to Adele, BTS & Taylor Swift

$$ from CD and Vinyl Sales-the power of CLASSIC






As our live get faster and more ridiculous, people long for stability and what they used to know.


Total U.S. album sales increased by 6.3% last year from 2020, totaling 108.98 million (up from 102.48 million), according to MRC Data’s 2021 U.S. Year-End Report. Overall sales grew for the first time in a decade, driven by a 51.4% increase in vinyl sales up to 41.72 million albums from 27.55 million in 2020. And for the first time since MRC Data started tracking music sales in 1991, vinyl albums outsold CD albums for the year.


TOP 10 SELLING CD ALBUMS OF 2021 IN U.S.

Adele, 30 (898,000)

Taylor Swift, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (263,000)

Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version) (237,000)

Carrie Underwood, My Savior (217,000)

TOMORROW X TOGETHER, The Chaos Chapter: Freeze (215,000)

Taylor Swift, Evermore (213,000)

NCT 127 – Sticker: The 3rd Album (211,000)

BTS, Map of the Soul: 7 (210,000)

Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (195,000)

BTS, Be (187,000)

Source: MRC Data, for the tracking period Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 30, 2021.



Here at #STW, we say this is a great source of revenue. Make your physical song sales special. Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) were given personally signed CD editions through Swift’s official web store; the superstar signed so many copies that she tweeted in September, “I may never write the same again, as my hand is now frozen in the permanent shape of a claw.”

Physical music distro, NFT music distro with unique artwork on each copy for your top few fans to bid on or purchase, is a way to create scarcity and specialness. Nipsey Hussle did this with this mixtapes selling them for $1000. Selling physical copies of music is also a great way to get fans to your website where you can sell them other fun merch like hats, tees, drinkware, beanies etc.

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