The Official Top 40 best-selling cassette albums of 2022
It was the near-obsolete format once destined to gather dust atop charity shop shelves; but the humble audio cassette's experiencing an unprecedented revival.
According to the end-of-year analysis of Official Charts Company data by music industry body the BPI, sales of cassettes continued to grow in 2022. Up 5.2% year-on-year to a total of 195,000 units, the figure demonstrates the collectible appeal of recorded music on physical formats as a complement to streaming.
2022's best-selling cassette album was Arctic Monkeys' seventh studio album The Car, released in October and shifting in excess of 10,000 cassette sales in less than three months.
Harry Styles' Harry's House - 2022's biggest album overall - came in second. Meanwhile, Florence + The Machine's former Number 1 LP Dance Fever placed at Number 3 on the year-end list.
MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest albums of 2022
It was an incredible year for new 2022 releases, with Muse's chart-topping LP Will Of The People landing at Number 4, Central Cee's first-ever Number 1 album 23 placing at Number 5 and Robbie Williams' record-breaking XXV collection making Number 6.
Other Top 10 highlights include 5 Seconds of Summer's 5SOS5 (7), BLACKPINK's Born Pink (8), The 1975's Being Funny In A Foreign Language (9); all chart-topping records in 2022.
The cassette's growth is thanks, in part, to limited edition fan-targeted formats. Both 5 Seconds of Summer and BLACKPINK's most recent releases, for example, were available with exclusive, individual member-specific artwork and colourways.
MORE: The Official Top 40 biggest songs of 2022
Speaking on the success of physical formats, Drew Hill, MD Proper Music Group/VP Distribution, Utopia Music, said: "It's fantastic to see another year where physical sales are driving albums to the top of the Official Charts.
"With 86% of 2022's Number 1 records boasting a majority in physical sales, in their first week at the top, it continues to prove that music fans from across all ages and genres are continuing to desire their favourite music in a tangible form; as something to be cherished and collected as well as played on repeat."
Official Top 40 best-selling cassettes of 2022
POS | TITLE | ARTIST |
1 | THE CAR | ARCTIC MONKEYS |
2 | HARRY'S HOUSE | HARRY STYLES |
3 | DANCE FEVER | FLORENCE & THE MACHINE |
4 | WILL OF THE PEOPLE | MUSE |
5 | 23 | CENTRAL CEE |
6 | XXV | ROBBIE WILLIAMS |
7 | 5SOS5 | 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER |
8 | BORN PINK | BLACKPINK |
9 | BEING FUNNY IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE | 1975 |
10 | MAINSTREAM SELLOUT | MACHINE GUN KELLY |
11 | LOVE SUX | AVRIL LAVIGNE |
12 | THE THEORY OF WHATEVER | JAMIE T |
13 | ALPHA PLACE | KNUCKS |
14 | RIBBON AROUND THE BOMB | BLOSSOMS |
15 | LAST NIGHT IN THE BITTERSWEET | PAOLO NUTINI |
16 | DAWN FM | WEEKND |
17 | YUNGBLUD | YUNGBLUD |
18 | THE OVERLOAD | YARD ACT |
19 | MIDNIGHTS | TAYLOR SWIFT |
20 | PATIENT NUMBER 9 | OZZY OSBOURNE |
21 | THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST | IRON MAIDEN |
22 | CLOSE TO HOME | AITCH |
23 | AMAZING THINGS | DON BROCO |
24 | NEVER LET ME GO | PLACEBO |
25 | FAITH IN THE FUTURE | LOUIS TOMLINSON |
26 | BEATOPIA | BEABADOOBEE |
27 | SONDER | DERMOT KENNEDY |
28 | GIVE ME THE FUTURE | BASTILLE |
29 | MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE | EASY LIFE |
30 | WE | ARCADE FIRE |
31 | THERE'S NOTHING BUT SPACE MAN | SAM RYDER |
32 | HOLD THE GIRL | RINA SAWAYAMA |
33 | NIGHT CALL | YEARS & YEARS |
34 | TOGETHER IN VEGAS | MICHAEL BALL & ALFIE BOE |
35 | NOUGHTY BY NATURE | DIGGA D |
36 | FIX YOURSELF NOT THE WORLD | WOMBATS |
37 | THE ALCHEMIST'S EUPHORIA | KASABIAN |
38 | WET LEG | WET LEG |
39 | GOLD RUSH KID | GEORGE EZRA |
40 | LIFE IS YOURS | FOALS |
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