Taylor Swift has once again pulled off what she is unstoppable at doing: complete domination. Swift's "The Tortured Poets Department" has reportedly proven to be not just a monstrous streaming hit and headline generator. Still, the best-selling vinyl album of 2024, with sales hitting a whopping 112,000 units, the Official Chart Company has confirmed.
At a time when it can feel like playlists and proprietary algorithms are running the show, it's vinyl that warm, spinning slab of analog magic that's got folks standing in line. And Swift? She's conducting that charge like a virtuoso in her prime.
This is not exactly new ground for Swift, but since she debuted the challenge a month or so ago, she's been ruling the vinyl charts like the veteran queen we know her to be: 1989 (Taylor's Version) conquered 2023, and Midnights seized the crown in 2022. Call it a streak, call it a takeover, or whatever you want to call it, but it's a vinyl renaissance with Swift at the eye of the storm.
But she was not the only one basking in the spotlight. Breathing down her neck, meanwhile, was a blast from Britpop past in the shape of Oasis' reissue of Definitely Maybe, which entered the chart at No 2, capitalising on the current buzz surrounding their much-whispered-about reunion tour.
Then along came a new-gen wunderkind: Chappell Roan entered at No. 3, destroying the pop scene with her surprise smash The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, which was re-released as a collector's edition chasing Popstar Edition. If you didn't know her name before, keep your eye out; the vinyl lovers are certainly going to.
Fourth place was Sabrina Carpenter, who is quickly working her way up the pop ladder herself. And at No. 5, Fontaines D.C. showed that gritty, poetic rock is very much alive and kicking with their critically praised new album Romance.
Reversing a recent trend that's had the music industry and you Greybeards out there bathing in disc-sellers' tears, physical music sales were the only format that increased, for the first time since 1994. Vinyl kept on with its resurgence parade, while CDs and even cassettes firmly re-established themselves with a new generation. Turns out music you can touch is still music that moves us.
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