Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ is the First Album in the 21st Century to Reach a Major Sales Milestone
Grammy-winning singer Taylor Swift has been known to break some records, and her latest achievement is nothing to sneeze at for any artist. Her tenth studio album Midnights was released in October 2022 and subsequently dominated the music industry, and it continues to reach new heights in 2023.
Taylor Swift released ‘Midnights’ in October 2022
Following her beloved re-recorded albums Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) released in 2021, fans were eager to see what Swift would do next, and if her next release would be another re-recording or an album of entirely new material. As the fall approached — Swift’s preferred season for releases, with nearly all of her studio albums arriving in October or November — she announced that her tenth studio album Midnights would be released on Oct. 21.
Upon Midnights‘ release, Swift occupied all 10 spots on the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, marking the first time in history that an artist has achieved such a feat. The No. 1 hit “Anti-Hero” sat atop the chart and registered eight weeks in the top spot.
To support Midnights (and look back on her lengthy discography so far), Swift announced that she would be embarking on the Eras Tour in 2023. The massive demands for tickets for the tour led to backlash against Ticketmaster that went all the way to Congress.
Taylor Swift’s ‘Midnights’ is the first album released in the 21st century to sell 1 million vinyl copies in the US
In the lead-up to Midnights‘ release, Swift announced that the album could be bought on vinyl with one of four different sleeve covers, which come together to form a clock. The incentive to buy not just one, but four vinyl copies of Midnights led to massive vinyl sales for the album.
In the late 2000s and throughout the 2010s, vinyl records experienced a renaissance as many younger music fans began bringing back the once-popular music medium. For most of these years, the majority of vinyl sales were by classic artists from when vinyl was initially popular. But in 2022, Swift did something no other artist who has released music since the turn of the millennium has done: according to Chart Data, Midnights was the first album released in the 21st century to surpass 1 million vinyl records sold in the US.
The top 10 albums in vinyl sales of 2022
Swift’s achievement of 1 million sales comes just a few weeks after Midnights reigned supreme among vinyl albums sold in the US in 2022. According to Luminate‘s 2022 Year-End Music Report, Swift registered almost double the number of vinyl sales of the album with the second-most vinyl sales: Harry Styles’ Harry’s House. She, along with Tyler, the Creator, were the only two artists with two albums in the top 10.
- Taylor Swift, Midnights (945,000)
- Harry Styles, Harry’s House (480,000)
- Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (263,000)
- Kendrick Lamar, good kid, m.A.A.d city (254,000)
- Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (243,000)
- Tyler, the Creator, Call Me If You Get Lost (211,000)
- Taylor Swift, Folklore (174,000)
- Tyler, the Creator, Igor (172,000)
- Michael Jackson, Thriller (168,000)
- The Beatles, Abbey Road (160,000)
