Physical media made a sort of comeback in 2021.
CDs, remember them?
Thanks to Adele, Taylor Swift and BTS, they have boosted the sales of the once-popular music format for the first time in 17 years, according to Pitchfork.
CD sales reached 40.59 million units in 2021, up 1.1% from 40.16 million units in 2020, MRC Data reported. It is the first gain for the format since 2004, according to Complex.
The boost in sales were propelled by Adele’s latest album, “30,” which was the top-selling CD in America, with 898,000 copies sold so far, according to Spin.
Taylor Swift had back-to-back rankings with the second and third-place positions as her re-recorded versions of Fearless sold 263,000 copies and Red saw 237,000 unites purchased, Complex reported.
Adele, Swift, and BTS accounted for 7.1 percent of all 2021 CD sales, according to Billboard.
Other artists like Olivia Rodrigo, Carrie Underwood, and TOMORROW X TOGETHER were also in the top 10 of CD sales for 2021, MRC Data reported.
The news comes as vinyl sales were up since 1991with nearly 2.11 million vinyl albums sold, according to Pitchfork. Adele’s “30” was also the best-selling vinyl album of the year, Pitchfork reported.
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