As Billboard has reported, vinyl sales reached all-time highs during the month of December, punctuating a 2020 that saw an incredible resurgence in the popularity of the format.
According to Nielsen Music/MRC Data, 1.842 million vinyl records were sold in the week ending on December 24th. While that number alone is impressive, it is worth noting that just one week prior, 1.445 million vinyl records were sold. In just two weeks, the bar was set, then reset again.
As for the scope of 2020 in terms of vinyl's continued popularity. Vinyl sales beat out CD sales not once but on four different instances in 2020. While that might not seem like a huge feat, that statistic had not occurred for nearly 30 years. That last time vinyl had outpaced CD sales was back in 1991.
Another promising number is the amount of the vinyl LPs that were sold at independent record stores. For the week ending on December 24th, 733,000 units were sold. That number also dates back to 1991, when independent stores last charted that kind of success in terms of sales numbers.
The best selling vinyl LP of the record-setting week was Paul McCartney's III, racking up some 32,000 units and earning the third-largest sales week for a single LP since 1991.
