Taylor Swift Proves Vinyl Remains Vital to Music Industry
For their premier sound quality and antique aesthetic, there is no doubt that vinyls remain a very current and integral part of today’s music industry. For years, artists have been releasing vinyls to accompany their album releases, and companies such as Crosley have been constantly innovating to keep record players technologically advanced and trendy. Artists have incorporated vinyls into their marketing rollouts with their releases- releasing limited edition colored vinyls at different retailers, or offering a variety of colors on their websites. Sometimes you can even have access to bonus tracks by buying a vinyl, or pick from an array of various different vinyl covers and become a collector for your favorite artist.
While vinyls have been prominent in the music industry for almost as long as the music industry has been around, Taylor Swift recently testified to the true extent to which vinyl sales can contribute to total album sales. Taylor Swift released a vinyl edition of her recent album, Evermore (originally released on December 11, 2020), on May 28, 2021, proving to be a strategic move on her part. During its release week, Evermore’s vinyl copy sold 102,000 records. This wildly surpassed the previous record for most vinyl sales in a week. In fact, Swift beat the record within three days of the Evermore release with over 40,000 units sold by May 30. The previous record was held by Jack White with his 2014 release ‘Lazaretto’ which sold 40,000 copies in its first week. No one had touched that record, until Swift obliterated it. Evermore’s vinyl sales boosted it back up to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, up from spot no. 74. Swift also broke her own record, with the largest sales in a week with an old record.
Besides Evermore’s initial success and Taylor Swift’s ability to break almost any record she attempts, these record-breaking sales numbers can be largely accredited to pre-sales. Evermore’s vinyl edition was put on her website for presale in December which gave fans plenty of time to both anticipate the vinyl’s release and decide that they wanted to get in on it.
Swifties aren’t the only ones who should be paying attention to this recent news. Evermore’s vinyl success is a testament to the power of vinyls in today’s music industry and how the timing of vinyl releases can prove vital. In 2020 music fans spent more on vinyls than they did on CDs for the first time since 1986, showing that vinyl records are in high demand right now. They are not just accessories to the album, but can actually make tangible impacts on the album’s success. In one of our recent blog posts, we discussed how artists can revive previous releases before they tour them post-COVID. Swift has proved that vinyl releases are a great way to do so. Music marketers everywhere- maybe hold off on vinyl releases, but plan accordingly to build pre-sale anticipation. At JV, we think we will be seeing much more strategic (and creative) vinyl releases in the near future.