Taylor Swift achieved another career milestone as she has been named the top-selling artist on vinyl in 2023.
One of every 15 vinyl albums bought in the United States last year was one made by Swift, 34, per a report by Billboard on Tuesday, January 16. She sold a total of 3.484 million vinyls last year, and her work accounted for 7 percent of all vinyl albums sold in the nation. The total amount of vinyl records sold last year was 49.61 million. The new stat is a major increase compared to 2022 as Swift was projected to sell one out of every 25.
Swift released two rerecordings last year, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version). 1989 TV, which dropped in October 2023, was the best-selling vinyl of the year with 1.014 million copies sold per Forbes. Speak Now TV sold 501,000 copies. Midnights, which Swift dropped in October 2022, came in third place with 492,000 vinyls sold.
Besides breaking records for vinyl sales, Swift accomplished a lot in 2023. She was named Spotify’s most listened-to artist and earned six more Grammy Award nominations, including Album of the Year (Midnights), Song and Record of the Year (“Anti-Hero”). Swift was also named TIME’s Person of the Year.
“My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things. Keep making art,” she shared in her December 2023 cover story. “But I’ve also learned there’s no point in actively trying to quote-unquote defeat your enemies. Trash takes itself out every single time.”
Swift also shattered records with her Eras Tour which earned more than $1 billion in ticket sales. The U.S. leg of the tour kicked off in March 2023 in Glendale, Arizona and wrapped up in August 2023 in Los Angeles. After a brief break, she hit the road again to perform the South American leg. Swift will hit the road again this year as she takes the Eras Tour across Europe, Australia, Canada and additional stops in the U.S.
Following the success of the tour, she released a movie version of her concert. Just like her shows, the film also broke records. When it hit theaters in October 2023, it earned $123.5 million at the box office and cemented itself as the highest-grossing concert film ever. In addition to being a box office success, the Eras Tour movie was nominated for a Golden Globe for the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement category (though it ultimately lost to Barbie).
With all of Swift’s success, Bloomberg reported in October 2023 that Swift achieved billionaire status with her net worth estimated to be $1.1 billion.
