Taylor Swift's 'Midnights' demolished a vinyl sales record in one day

Matthew Leimkuehler, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read
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Promotional photo for ‘Midnights,’ Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album
Promotional photo for ‘Midnights,’ Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album

No one sells an album quite like Taylor Swift.

The once-in-a-generation storyteller returned Friday with "Midnights," a 13-song collection of late-night ruminations that her dedicated followers devoured at rate not seen before in modern vinyl sales. Swift opened "Midnights" release week with vinyl LP sales reaching roughly 400,000, according to Luminate, the media consumption company formerly known as Nielsen Soundscan-MRC Data.

The total includes online pre-sales and Friday in-store purchases reported to Luminate.

Her vinyl sales total doubles a first-week record previously held by pop powerhouse Harry Styles, who moved 181,000 copies of his album "Harry's House" last year, per Billboard. It marks a 30-year high for a single vinyl album; Luminate began tracking sales in 1991.

Once considered a niche format, Swift capitalized on a booming vinyl resurgence by offering collectable variants of "Midnights," each featuring unique artwork and disc colors.

A mural of Taylor Swift, Record Store Day 2022 ambassador, photographed outside Grimey's New and Preloved Music in East Nashville, Tennessee, on April 21, 2022.
A mural of Taylor Swift, Record Store Day 2022 ambassador, photographed outside Grimey's New and Preloved Music in East Nashville, Tennessee, on April 21, 2022.

And Swift reached the record-breaking number as many stores in Nashville and beyond waited until mid-day Friday to receive shipments of "Midnights." She offered autographed editions of the album on her website and prompted fans to visit indie record stores to pick up a "Midnights" variant. Fans also boosted "Midnights" sales by collecting cassette and CD variants of the new album.

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Online, Swift broke single-day streaming records on Spotify and Apple Music's Spatial Audio. After one day on shelves and streaming services, Luminate projected "Midnights" to earn the best-selling debut week in five years. The last artist to see an album make a sales splash this big? Swift, of course. She moved 1.2 million copies of "Reputation" in 2017.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Taylor Swift smashes vinyl sales record with 'Midnights'