Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ Breaks Modern-Era Single-Week Vinyl Sales Record

by - November 06, 2023

 According to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) sold over 1.1 million copies in the U.S. in its first six days of release (Oct. 27-Nov. 1). Of that sum, vinyl sales account for 580,000 – marking the largest sales week for a vinyl album since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. Swift breaks her own modern-era vinyl sales record, set by the debut of Midnights, which sold 575,000 copies in its opening week (ending Oct. 27, 2022).

Luminate’s tracking week ends on Thursday, Nov. 2. The album’s final first-week sales number is expected to be announced on Sunday, Nov. 5, along with its assumed large debut on the multi-metric Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Nov. 11). If 1989 (Taylor’s Version) debuts atop the Billboard 200, it will mark Swift’s 13th No. 1 album, extending her record for the most among women.

The 21 songs on the streaming edition of 1989 (Taylor’s Version) collectively generated over 337 million on-demand official streams in its first six days of release. As reported on Nov. 1, the album has the biggest streaming week for any of Swift’s four re-recorded albums to date, by total streams.

In terms of total equivalent album units earned – the metric used to rank the weekly Billboard 200 chart – the album has tallied 1.35 million units (of which 1.1 million are in traditional album sales). The last album to post a bigger week, by units earned, was Midnights, which bowed with 1.578 million.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each units equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

PREVIOUSLY (NOV. 1): According to initial reports to Luminate, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. through its first five days of release (Oct. 27-31). Further, it has already become the year’s top-selling album, surpassing Swift’s own 2022 release Midnights, which has sold 778,000 in 2023 through Oct. 26. Swift now has the top three selling albums of the year, as Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) is the No. 3-seller, with 742,000 sold since its release in July.

1989 (Taylor’s Version) also already owns 2023’s biggest sales week, beating out the opening frame of Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), which launched with 507,000 sold in the week ending July 13. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has the biggest sales week for any album since the debut frame of Swift’s Midnights, with 1.14 million sold in the week ending Oct. 27, 2022.

With 1989 (Taylor’s Version) having surpassed the million sales mark, it’s the sixth time an album from Swift has sold at least a million in a single week, following the debut weeks of Midnights, reputation, the original 1989, Red and Speak Now. She is the only act with six different albums to each sell at least 1 million copies in a single week since Luminate began electronically tracking sales in 1991.

In total, there have been 25 instances – by 23 different albums – in which an album sold at least 1 million copies in a week in the Luminate era. One of those albums, Adele’s 25, sold more than 1 million in three separate weeks.


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