The Taylor Swift vinyl phenomenon: How the superstar claimed the fastest-selling vinyl album of the decade

Taylor Swift will always come out on top.

The Tortured Poets Department is named the Official fastest-selling vinyl album of the decade, Official Charts can confirm as part of its Official Vinyl Charts 10th anniversary celebrations.

Released in April 2024, The Tortured Poets Department has, at the time of writing, sold 66.4k copies on wax in just under 12 months. This is not only a fantastic achievement, but a testament to the power of Taylor Swift not just as a musician, but as a brand. 

Even upon its original release, The Tortured Poets Department was already breaking records. During its first week on sale, the LP broke several Official Charts records - including the biggest opening week for an album in the UK in seven years, since Ed Sheeran's blockbuster Divide in 2017.

More than any act in modern-day pop, over the past decade's 'vinyl boom' Taylor has succeeded in using physical vinyl product as an extension of her brand and core values.

As a fan, you feel closer to Taylor and the music she makes by collecting the art in its physical form.

Marketing has always been one of Taylor's biggest assets as a pop star; alongside her musicality and lyricism, of course.

It's proved integral to the longevity of her career, and her ability to seemingly reach unknown stratospheric fame and popularity with each passing year.

It's this ability to look outside of herself and judge the temperature of the cultural room that has enabled Taylor to subtly shapeshift as an artist throughout the last decade, without losing her core, innate ‘Taylor-ness.’

That's why, in the last 10 years alone, we've seen her conquer effervescent ‘80s synth-pop (1989) and hard-edged EDM (reputation), before switching tact with singer-songwriter confessionals (folklore, evermore). Subsequent albums Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department even attempted to combine these various aspects into singular bodies of work.

Of course, for those of you who have been paying attention, Taylor's embrace of vinyl  - a physical music product in an age dominated by digital, ephemeral access to music via your internet connection on a mass scale - makes sense.

Many will remember, with the advent of streaming a decade ago, Taylor was one of the first artists to speak up and demand fairer payment from streaming services for artists (to the point that, for many years, her back catalogue was held off Spotify, only available to stream on Apple Music, which had fairer royalty deals for artists).

Pivotal to the process of Taylor becoming the biggest pop star of her generation and, honestly, probably the most famous musician in a single era only comparable to the likes of The Beatles, Elvis or Michael Jackson at their height, is her engagement of her most devoted and beloved fans, the Swifties.

If you attended any of Taylor's The Eras Tour shows across the globe over the last two years, you would have noticed that any Swiftie attending the concert would proudly display an arm decorated with friendship bracelets made and swapped with other fans.

Their approach to purchasing Taylor's physical music is the same. The more you have, the more you can more outwardly express your devotion and passion for her as your favourite artist.

Owning a Taylor Swift vinyl - owning and cherising a Taylor Swift vinyl, as many of them as possible - is now a core value her most impassioned fans have taken to heart. And Taylor (and sales of vinyl albums in the UK) have well and truly reflected this.

The best example of this is Taylor's most recent UK Number 1 album, Originally a limited-edition release in 2023, a heart-shaped vinyl LP of Taylor's Lover (Live From Paris) concert soared to Number 1 on the Official Albums Chart in February, thanks to a new pressing just in time for Valentine's Day (like we said - marketing genius!)

The fact that Lover (Live From Paris) was only available as a vinyl product made its ascent to Number 1 even more impressive. It was the first UK Number 1 album to top the Official Albums Chart purely on physical sales since 2017, when Taylor's very own reputation did the same (reputation was released to streaming services three weeks after its initial release).

Lover (Live From Paris) also boasts the biggest weekly sales for a live album this century.

Oh, and it doesn't end there. Taylor's landmark 13th UK Number 1 album saw her surpass long-time record holder and Queen of Pop Madonna as the female artist with the most Number 1 albums in Official Charts history, too.

Now that is impressive.

The Top 5 is compiled of four of her works, all former UK Number 1 albums to boot; The Tortured Poets Department (1), Midnights (2) and 1989 (Taylor's Version) (3) and the special vinyl pressing re-issue Lover (Live From Paris (4). Tay makes a fifth and final appearance in the Top 20 with Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (12). 

Sam Fender's recent chart-topping third album People Watching completes the Top 5 (5). The record recently set the record for the fastest-selling vinyl album for a British act. Other acts present in the Top 10 are Harry Styles with Harry's House (7), ABBA's Voyage (8), Liam Gallagher's C'mon You Know (9) and The Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds (10).

The Official Top 40 fastest-selling vinyl albums this decade (2015-2025)

©2025 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

Article image: Getty

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