Annual music album sales in the United States dropped by roughly ***** percent between 2019 and 2021, amounting to just *** million in the most recent year. This number decreased further to just *** million in the U.S. in 2022. In 2013, sales amounted to ***** million units, a number which had already noticeably decreased from the *** million units sold in 2011. Annual music album sales - additional information The past decade has brought along many changes, both technological and societal, which have forever changed the face of the global music industry. Today, music superstars, such as Beyonce, who was the highest paid musician in the United States in 2016, have money, coverage in all possible mediums, and power like never before. However, as of 2015, the worldwide revenue generated by the music business stood at **** billion U.S. dollars, some **** billion less than in 2002. It seems that the internet, the magical tool that is responsible for the creation of so many music celebrities, might also be responsible for the dismal statistics surrounding the sale of music albums in the United States, once the main revenue stream in the business. As the data shows, annual music album sales in the United States have plummeted from *** million units sold in 2007 to under *** million units sold in 2017. At the same time, digital music revenues, especially from album and single downloads, as well as subscription and streaming services, have been steadily growing in the past years. The fall in record sales is attributed to the rise of illegal music downloading, but also to legal services, which provide music products without the additional costs of production and shipping. Despite changes in the way Americans acquire music, U.S. consumers still enjoy and value music industry products. Recent studies show that more consumers are choosing to use a legal alternative to file sharing, mainly digital music streaming services, such as online radio services like Pandora and Spotify. Additionally, musicians reorient themselves from album sales towards live performances and business deals to boost their incomes. As of 2017, the sales revenue from concert tickets in North America was at an all-time high, with revenue hit ***** billion U.S. dollars for the first time.

In 2024, a total of 32.9 million physical CDs were shipped in the United States. However, this figure marks a considerable decrease from a decade earlier, when shipments were still above 100 million. More than 900 million CDs were shipped in the United States at the turn of the millenium, but the product has experienced a large decline in popularity in general since. Physical music sales Seen as the successor to vinyl records and cassette tapes, compact discs or CDs were one of the most popular prerecorded music formats for much of the 1990s and early 2000s. Competition, first in the form of digital music formats and then streaming, has led to a massive decline in total album sales, with the CD format being hit particularly hard. For five years now, music streaming revenue accounted for over 80 percent of total industry revenue partially thanks to the ability of these platforms to provide users with instant access to an endless online library of music which can be enjoyed via any device at any time. While most physical album sales have suffered, vinyl albums have experienced a resurgence in recent years. The format’s total sales figures increased significantly in each year since 2010.

Data on vinyl album sales in the United States from 1993 to 2023 shows consistent growth since 2006, and in 2023 a total of **** million vinyl albums were sold, up by over ** percent from the previous year. LP/vinyl sales - additional information Vinyl records, or LPs (short for Long Play), dominated the music recording industry for most of the twentieth century, holding their own against cassette tapes between the 1970s and 1990s, but sales of the compact disc (or CD), introduced in 1983, outpaced LP sales by the end of the 1980s. LPs have been enjoying a comeback in recent years, and the vinyl record is the only format of music available that has recorded positive sales growth from 2009 to 2017. This is impressive, especially because the overall number of albums sold in all formats has been decreasing since at least 2007. This is not because music piracy is replacing music purchasing — in fact, a recent study showed that those individuals who engage in pirating have more legally purchased music in their collections than those who do not use P2P sites to share music.The LP market, while growing, is still a niche market. The number of vinyl records shipped in 2017 is significantly less than the number of CDs, partially due to the market for vinyl consisting mainly of DJs, collectors, and audiophiles. DJs prefer the LP to most other formats due to its versatility and the ability to directly manipulate the record. Many audiophiles and collectors argue that the sound quality of the vinyl record is better than that of digitally recorded music, and new releases of older albums, such as those by the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix, are particularly popular. Modern artists from Mumford & Sons to Justin Timberlake also utilize the LP format. Ed Sheeran's album ''Divide" sold a total of ** thousand units on vinyl in 2017.

The statistic above presents growth of music album sales in the United States from 2009 to 2014, by genre. Rock album sales contracted by *** percent in 2014. However, rock was still the bestselling gerne, having sold ***** million albums in 2014.

Change of music album sales in the United States by genreIn 2012, albums representing only three music genres—country, rock and soundtrack—rose in popularity among American consumers. Sales growth in these music genres ranged from * to *** percent, relatively insignificant numbers, especially compared with losses sustained by other genres in the same period. Sales of jazz albums shrank by over a quarter, classical music over a fifth, and Latin music by nearly ** percent.These figures back the results of recent consumer surveys, in which Americans were asked to specify their favorite music genre. In 2012, nearly ** percent of adults named country and ** percent named rock as their preferred style. Among teenagers, country and rock ranked high as well, taking second and fourth places respectively.Such results are only partly mirrored, however, in hard sales figures. Unit sales figures show that rock was the best-selling genre in 2012, with over *** million albums sold. Country, meanwhile, ranked only fourth and was outsold by alternative music with over ** million and R&B with nearly ** million. More generally, album sales, especially physical album sales, are shrinking as Americans move their music consumption to digital platforms. Album sales contracted by *** percent in 2012, whereas digital track sales grew by *** percent. Thanks to the infusion of digital revenues, the music industry is developing positively and will continue on that track in the near future. In 2012, industry revenue grew *** percent and generated in total ** billion U.S. dollars. The figure is expected to reach ** billion in 2017.

Data on the year-over-year changes in music sales in the United States from 2009 to 2023 show yearly increases in LP/vinyl album sales, which saw growth of **** percent between 2022 and 2023. Meanwhile, digital album sales are declining, with a unit sales drop of almost *** percent to ***** million in the last measured period.

The statistic presents data on music album sales in the United States from 2008 to 2014, broken down by genre. In 2014, 6.26 million Latin music albums were sold in the U.S. The most popular genre of the year was rock with 85.25 million albums sold. Country music was still very popular in the United States: in 2014, 30.46 million country albums albums sold, outselling such genres as pop and dance. On the whole, there were 240.7 million music albums sold in the United States in 2015, a number which fell to just over 200 million in 2016. Here you can find out which genres reported largest growth between 2009 and 2014.

Most popular music genre in the United States - additional information

Music made the transition from private pastime to a multi-billion industry as the widespread adoption of mass distribution channels, such as radio and TV, gained popularity over the years. Specialized music TV channels, such as MTV in the 1980s, added the visual aspect which enhanced the power of music. The internet then came to supply free videos on YouTube, as well as the gossip and the “who wore it better” columns, in order to craft industry superstars, like Beyoncé, Dr.Dre, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift. In fact, Taylor Swift is the musician with the highest payroll in the world; rock artists such as AC/DC, The Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen also appear in the top positions in the ranking.

The United States is not only home of many other internationally acclaimed artists, but it is also the origin of famous music genres such as jazz, country, blues, rock 'n' roll, hip hop, and pop. An online survey conducted in the U.S. points out that the most popular music genre in the U.S. is rock, with 40 percent of respondents choosing this option. The second and third most listened to music genres are oldies and country respectively, while hip hop/rap is favored by a smaller niche of American listeners. Rock is also the favorite road trip music of American travelers. This preference is reflected in album sales, where rock albums have outsold all the other music genres since 2008.

However, the sales of physical music album reflect just part of the consumption of this particular genre in the United States. Physical albums account for about 38 percent of rock’s music consumption, while 62 percent of rock music consumers prefer digital formats, for instance, digital albums or streaming services. As the consumption of digital music gains popularity, sales of music albums of all genres have been sinking, going from 500 million units sold in 2007 to around 200 million units sold in 2016.

In 2024, just **** million digital albums were sold in the United States. This marks a decline of almost ** percent as compared to the previous year, when **** million digital albums were sold. Digital album sales peaked in 2012 and 2013, but have been dropping ever since and have even fallen drastically below the figures recorded prior to 2010.

In 2024, the top-selling vinyl album in the United States was Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department with *** million vinyl albums sold. **** of the top 10 selling vinyl albums were released by Swift in 2024. Also, her albums sold over *** million copies on vinyl in the same year, which is the most of any artist. Recent data shows that vinyl record sales in the U.S. have been experiencing a period of constant growth since 2007, and such albums are not reserved only for older, more established artists. Vinyl is back Out of the few physical formats, vinyl is going through a resurgence. The phenomenon of nostalgia, returning to tangible products and vintage vibes is driving the revival of vinyl records. The main reasons for buying vinyl are building a collection, ownership of physical music, and the ritual of playing the record, so the trend is based in lifestyle choices. The numbers show that sales of vinyl are constantly growing, having reached more than ** million units in 2023 in the United Sates alone. This format is actually on of few in recorded music that shows positive growth throughout the past years, in 2023 reaching **** percent. Taylor Swift leading music consumption The artist's debut album “Taylor Swift” was grounded in country music, but her switch to pop music thereafter led to a significant fanbase - so-called Swifties - and generated substantial media interest. However, according to a study from 2023, her most popular albums are later releases, namely the albums 1989 and Fearless. As of 2024, she has released ** studio albums in total, while also re-recording * of her albums after the rights to her music were bought by music producer Scooter Brown. As a result of her endeavors in this area, Swift became an advocate for female empowerment and an inspiration for musicians who seek greater ownership of their work.

In 2018, hip-hop and rap music accounted for 21.7 percent of total music consumption in the United States, more than double the percentage of R&B music sales. Other highly popular genres included pop and rock music, whereas just 1.1 percent of all music sold in the U.S. in 2018 was jazz.

Why are some genres more popular than others? 

Whilst music is a highly subjective medium in terms of the listener’s taste and preferences, the top genres in terms of consumption tend not to fluctuate heavily. The catchiness and familiarity of pop music is appealing to a wide range of music fans. Pop songs tend to be easy to listen to and remember, usually feature simple, snappy lyrics to avoid polarizing listeners, making pop overall less divisive than other genres because it is designed to generate mass appeal.

Conversely, religious music by its very nature is a niche genre in that it encompasses, describes or advocates certain beliefs, giving it the equal ability to alienate some listeners while appealing enormously to others, depending on their religious stance.

The hit genre of 2018 was hip-hop and rap, a music style notorious for its tendency to divide listeners. Singer Drake arguably influenced sales within the genre that year, with ‘Scorpion’ topping the list of best-selling albums in the United States based on total streams and ‘Scary Hours’ also making the top ten. Drake came tenth in the list of most successful music tours in North America, with revenue from his live concerts amounting to 79 million U.S. dollars, and second in the ranking was Jay-Z and Beyoncé with 166.4 million dollars in revenue, artists whose music is also strongly aligned with the rap and hip-hop genre.

Other artists in the genre who achieved significant influence in 2018 include Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Cardi B, Travis Scott and Post Malone, many of whom released songs that year which garnered hundreds of millions of audio streams. The sheer amount of hip-hop and rap music flooding the music industry has had a profound effect on the genre’s popularity, and musicians in the category tend to be prolific songwriters and active social media users. Equally, artists in the genre are arguably passionate about creating music which challenges social norms in a way that rock music has always been famous for.

The top selling album of all time in the United States based on certified unit sales is currently the Eagles’ Greatest Hits, with 38 million copies sold. Michael Jackson's 1982 album, 'Thriller', ranked second with 34 million sales, and the Eagles also held third place in the ranking with 'Hotel California', which had 26 million certified unit sales as of August 2024. Also featuring in the ranking were several world-famous rock bands: AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Guns N’ Roses, Fleetwood Mac, and Boston. Eagles: a short history The Eagles were founded in Los Angeles in 1971 by Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Randy Meisner, and Bernie Leadon. In 1975, Bernie Leadon left and was replaced by Joe Walsh, and two years later Meisner left and made way for Timothy B. Schmit. The group specializes in folk, country, and soft rock, and are most famous for 1977 number one single ‘Hotel California’, which is 6 and a half minutes long and is still popular today. After the band broke up in 1980, the Eagles were on hiatus until 1994 and pursued their own individual musical projects. Glenn Frey almost topped the charts with Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack hit ‘The Heat Is On’, and worked on the soundtracks for ‘Thelma & Louise’ and ‘Ghostbusters II’. Joe Walsh released his own album ‘There Goes the Neighborhood’ and did session work for Steve Winwood and Emerson, Lake & Palmer among others. Schmit sang backup vocals for Toto and toured with Walsh as part of Ringo Starr’s All-Starr band. Don Henley’s released album ‘No Fun Aloud’ and achieved commercial success with famous songs ‘The Boys of Summer’ and ‘The Heart of the Matter’, as well as a song with Fleetwood Mac singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks. Henley began dating Nicks in the late 1970s and the two went on to collaborate musically, releasing ‘Leather and Lace’ in 1981. Today, the Eagles are not only some of the highest paid musicians in the U.S. but are one of the most active and well-known rock bands in the world and are frequently on tour. In fact, the American rockers famous for ‘Hotel California’ had one of the most successful music tours in the world in 2018, which generated gross revenue of 166 million U.S. dollars – that’s almost as much as the Foo Fighters’ and Sam Smith’s tour revenue combined.

In 2019, the music album with the most unit sales in the United States was 'Lover' by Taylor Swift, far outperforming all other records in the list with almost 1.1 million copies sold that year. Second was 'When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?' by Billie Eilish with 594.6 thousand sales, followed by 'Happiness Begins' by the Jonas Brothers.

Other artists with best-selling albums in 2018

The ranking also includes albums by artists who proved extremely popular in 2019 such as Ariana Grande, Khalid, and Post Malone. The three artists also featured in the list of top-selling music albums based on total streams.

Other well-known artists like Harry Styles, BTS, and the the Backstreet Boys made the top ten, selling between 300 and more than 450 thousand albums each in 2019. Again though, among music fans the presence of these names on the ranking will be unremarkable and, frankly, expected. A name which may come as a surprise is Tool, whose album ‘Fear Inoculum’ sold over 344 thousand copies. The album marked the rock band's first release since 2006, and received widespread critical acclaim upon its release and performed well in the charts in its opening week. Songs 'Fear Inoculum' and '7empest' were both nominated for Grammys in 2019, the latter of which had a runtime of more than 15 minutes, making it the longest track on the album.

Data on recorded music industry revenue in the United States from 2009 to 2024 shows steady growth from 2015 onwards. The revenue reached over ** billion U.S. dollars in 2024, up from the ***billion reported in the previous year. Music is the revenue driver of the audio market With music being part of everyday life as well as a popular form of entertainment, it has been the most popular audio format and is likely to remain the revenue driver of the industry. Global recorded music revenue alone generated a total of **** billion U.S. dollars in 2024. In the United States, recorded music industry revenue amounted to **** billion U.S. dollars in 2024, which is more than twice as much compared to 2009. Streaming is dominating music consumption Over the years, streaming has become increasingly popular, overtaking other forms of music consumption. Especially physical sales of music have experienced a sharp drop in numbers, only slightly recovering in recent years. Nonetheless, while streaming is by far the most popular way of consumption, the boom it has experienced over the last 10 years or so seems to be slowing down. In 2022, global music streaming revenue only grew by **** percent, which is a significant drop from the growth rate of **** percent in the year before. In 2024, the recorded growth dropped to *******************.

This statistic presents information on the first week unit sales of Taylor Swift's albums from 2006 to 2017. Swift's fifth album '1989' sold **** million copies during the first week after its release on ****************. Her most recent album, 'reputation', released in *************, sold **** million copies in its first week in the United States

The statistic presents physical album sales in the United States in 2015 and 2016, by store type. According to the source, sales of physical albums from independent retailers amounted to 15.9 million units in 2016.

In 2023, just ****** million digital songs were sold in the United States, reflecting a decline of **** percent from the ***** million digital songs sold in 2022. This marks the 11th consecutive year of declining digital track sales. Also, a few years earlier digital music track sales surpassed the *********** mark on an annual basis, and hit a record in 2012 with over *** billion songs sold. There has been a notable decline in sales in the last five years in particular, and the 2021 figure was more than **** times smaller than the *** million recorded in 2015.

In 2024, revenue from digital album downloads amounted to 166.7 million U.S. dollars, less than half the figure recorded in 2018. Meanwhile, subscription and streaming revenues have been increasing annually and reached 14.88 billion that same year, making up the vast majority of revenues for the entire music industry. Digital music – additional informationThe increase in digital music revenue, more specifically subscription and streaming services, may be down to the accessibility and availability of digital music. For legal downloads, consumers can pick between services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora. Of course, there are countless numbers of illegal sites which distribute digital music also. In 2019, approximately 34 percent of global internet users aged 16 to 24 admitted to accessing music through music ripping, the most popular method being copyright infringement.Digital music sales have made a huge impact on the listings of best-selling lists with digital sales either being combined with physical sales or set apart. The list of the top-selling digital songs in the United States in 2020 features artists such as The Weeknd, Tones and I, and Megan Thee Stallion. The title for the top selling digital song goes to ‘Blinding Lights’ by The Weeknd. The song sold over 372 thousand units in the United States from January to July 2020. Nevertheless, the share of the digital music market does not always directly correspond to the value of the digital market. The value of digital music singles downloads in 2024 amounted to 162.4 million U.S. dollars, which marked a drop in value from 678.5 million in 2017. The value of digital album sales also saw a decrease from 668.5 million in 2017 to 166.7 million in 2024.

This statistic displays a timeline of album sales in the United Kingdom from 2008 to 2016, by format. In 2016, **** million albums were sold on CD. CD was still the best-selling album format, while **** million albums were sold in digital format that year. The number of albums sold on LP continued to rise in 2016, to over ***** million units sold.

In 2023, the top-selling vinyl album in the United States was Taylor Swift's 1989 (Taylor’s Version) with 1.01 billion vinyl albums sold. Five of the top 10 selling vinyl albums were released by Swift in 2023. Also, her albums sold 3.5 billion copies on vinyl in the same year, which is the most of any artist. Recent data shows that vinyl record sales in the U.S. have been experiencing a period of constant growth since 2007, and such albums are not reserved only for older, more established artists. Vinyl sales Vinyl is back. Out of the few physical formats, vinyl is going through a resurgence. The phenomenon of nostalgia, returning to tangible products and vintage vibes is driving the revival of vinyl records. The main reasons for buying vinyl are building a collection, ownership of physical music, and the ritual of playing the record, so the trend is based in lifestyle choices. The numbers show that sales of vinyl are constantly growing, having reached more than 49 million units in 2023 in the United Sates alone. This format is actually on of few in recorded music that shows positive growth throughout the past years, in 2023 reaching 14.2 percent. Taylor Swift leading music consumption The artist's debut album “Taylor Swift” was grounded in country music, but her switch to pop music thereafter led to a significant fanbase - so-called Swifties - and generated substantial media interest. However, according to a study from 2023, her most popular albums are later releases, namely the albums 1989 and Fearless. As of 2024, she has released ten studio albums in total, while also re-recording four of her albums after the rights to her music were bought by music producer Scooter Brown. As a result of her endeavors in this area, Swift became an advocate for female empowerment and an inspiration for musicians who seek greater ownership of their work.

In 2024, the value of digital music albums downloaded in the United States was 166.7 million U.S. dollars, down from nearly 205 million a year earlier. The year 2011 to 2015 saw the figure reach and remain above one billion U.S. dollars. Annual decreases of around 150 to 200 million per year for the last few years have seen the value drop back down to a similar level as in 2006.

In 2024, the popular K-pop girl group TWICE sold around **** million albums in South Korea, making this their commercially most successful year so far. The group has sold almost ** million albums since their debut in 2015. Who is TWICE? TWICE is a girl group consisting of nine members hailing from South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. They debuted in South Korea in October of 2015 under JYP Entertainment, and quickly became one of the nation’s most popular K-pop acts. In the previous year, they sold one of the largest shares of all albums sold by female musical acts in South Korea. Their success is also visible on YouTube, with the number of views on TWICE’s music videos dwarfing all other artists signed under the same company. The Big 4 of K-pop Just as in any sector, there are leading companies that dominate the industry. Though there have been several shifts since the *****, the traditional “Big 3” referred to SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. It is now commonly considered to be a “Big 4”, with the new addition of Hybe (formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment), led by their record-breaking artist BTS. Membership among this prestigious line up of entertainment companies relies on historical as well as current commercial and popular success, the cultural impact of their musical acts, and their influence on trends. A given company’s most successful act will informally be considered one of the current leaders of the genre, as well as the company’s representative act. In the case of JYP Entertainment, TWICE has been one of their representative artists for the past years.