Led by Taylor Swift, U.S. Vinyl Sales Reached $1 Billion for First Time Since 1983 as Recorded Music Revenue Hit New High in 2025

Mar 16, 2026 8:37am PT Led by Taylor Swift, U.S. Vinyl Sales Reached $1 Billion for First Time Since 1983 as Recorded Music Revenue Hit New High in 2025 By Jem Aswad Plus Icon Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music jemaswad Latest Music Industry Moves: Brad Paisley Joins New Firm Domain Artist Management, Rico Nasty Signs With UTA, Concord Acquires Ninja Tune Label and Publishing 3 days ago James Blake on His New Album ‘Trying Times,’ the ‘Sinners’ Soundtrack and Being a Fully DIY Artist 3 days ago ‘Select’ Quincy Jones Music, Publishing and NIL Assets Acquired by HarbourView 4 days ago See All The U.S. recorded-music industry reached a record high of $11.5 billion in revenue in 2025, according to the Recording Industry Association of America ’s year-end revenue report, with premium paid streaming subscription revenues growing 6.8% to $5.88 billion and vinyl sales growing for a 19th consecutive year, passing $1 billion in sales for the first time since 1983. Vinyl sales climbed 7.9%, to 46.8 million from 43.4 million in 2024, with revenue climbing to $1,042.9 billion from $954.4 million, according to the RIAA’s report, which was released early Monday. This is due in no small part to Taylor Swift’s ongoing emphasis on vinyl sales — her 2025 album “Life of a Showgirl” sold around 1.6 million units on vinyl alone, one of many high-selling titles in her catalog: next up was her “Lover (Live From Paris)” set, which racked up 166,000 units, ninth for the year, according to Luminate. Variety’s 2025 Hitmaker of the Year Sabrina Carpenter’s two most recent albums, “Man’s Best Friend” and “Short n’ Sweet,” sold nearly 600,000 vinyl units last year. Popular on Variety Related Stories Razzie Awards 2026 Winners: Ice Cube Named Worst Actor as 'War of the Worlds' Dominates With Five Dishonors