Taylor Swift’s ’Midnights’ becomes first album to sell more vinyl copies than CDs in the UK since 1987

Taylor Swift‘s Midnights continues to make waves in the music world. It’s the first album since 1987 to sell more vinyl copies than CDs in the United Kingdom.

The Guardian reports Midnights has sold an impressive 800,000 copies on vinyl. It previously set the all-time record for biggest single-week vinyl sales after 575,000 copies flew off the shelves in its first week of release.

As for why fans snatched up so many vinyl copies, it could be due to Taylor’s creative marketing ploy in which she released four different-colored versions of the album. Each vinyl had one-fourth of a clock face printed on the back of its jacket — so collecting all four created a clock. Taylor also craftily sold the hands of the clock to complete the illusion.

Vinyl sales are enjoying a renaissance in the U.K., while CD sales continue to decline. In 2021, vinyl sales grew nearly 25%, whereas CD sales fell by about 4%.

The outlet predicts there will be a wider gap in those sales numbers. We will find out for sure next week, when figures for 2022’s sales are released.