A recently published report from Luminate (the US music market monitor that provides data for Billboard charts) indicates that the popularity of new music is shrinking. Meanwhile, Variety got Luminate to collect data on the best-selling albums on vinyl from the first half of 2022, and the resulting top-50 list seems to support that trend.
Harry Styles’ Harry’s House is No. 1 on the list, but it’s the only album in the top 10 that was released this year. Olivia Rodrigo’s 2021 album Sour comes in at second, Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid M.A.A.D City (2012) is third, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors (1977) is fourth, and Tyler The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost (2021) is fifth. After Harry’s House, the next album on the list that was released in 2022 is Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Unlimited Love, which sits at No. 12.
Elsewhere, Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon is No. 15, while The Weeknd’s Dawn FM is No. 22 and Drake’s Take Care is No. 47, both albums representing the Canadian artists’ only appearances on the chart. The timing of this is fortuitous for Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, who recently declared in regards to Drake and The Weeknd, “I am far, far, far more important than any of them will ever be, however many billions of streams they’ve got.”
Check out the full top-50 list below.
1. Harry Styles — Harry’s House (294,000 physical LP album sales)
2. Olivia Rodrigo — Sour (165,000)
3. Kendrick Lamar — Good Kid M.A.A.D City (129,000)
4. Fleetwood Mac — Rumours (126,000)
5. Tyler The Creator — Call Me If You Get Lost (98,000)
6. Nirvana — Nevermind (87,000)
7. Beatles — Abbey Road (84,000)
8. Prince — Purple Rain (80,000)
9. Childish Gambino — Awaken My Love (79,000)
10. Taylor Swift — Folklore (79,000)
11. Taylor Swift — Red (Taylor’s Version) (78,000)
12. Red Hot Chili Peppers — Unlimited Love (78,000)
13. Billie Eilish — Happier Than Ever (77,000)
14. Harry Styles — Fine Line (75,000)
15. Pink Floyd — Dark Side Of The Moon (73,000)
16. Kanye West — The College Dropout (73,000)
17. Tyler, The Creator — Igor (72,000)
18. Tame Impala — Currents (71,000)
19. Adele — 30 (69,000)
20. Billie Eilish — When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (63,000)
21. Arctic Monkeys — AM (61,000)
22. The Weeknd — Dawn FM (54,000)
23. Bob Marley — Legend (54,000)
24. Lana Del Rey — Born To Die (53,000)
25. Taylor Swift — Evermore (52,000)
26. Amy Winehouse — Back To Black (52,000)
27. Jack White — Fear Of The Dawn (52,000)
28. Michael Jackson — Thriller (51,000)
29. Childish Gambino — Because The Internet (50,000)
30. Mitski — Laurel Hell (49,000)
31. Ghost — Impera (48,000)
32. Kendrick Lamar — To Pimp A Butterfly (48,000)
33. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers — Greatest Hits (48,000)
34. Kendrick Lamar — Damn. (46,000)
35. Creedence Clearwater Revival — Vol. 1-Chronicle-20 Greatest Hits (44,000)
36. Queen — Greatest Hits (44,000)
37. Beatles — Let It Be (43,000)
38. Lumineers — Brightside (43,000)
39. Billie Eilish — Don’t Smile At Me (43,000)
40. Chris Stapleton — Traveller (41,000)
41. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Encanto Cast — Encanto (41,000)
42. Led Zeppelin — Led Zeppelin 4 (40,000)
43. Marvin Gaye — What’s Going On (40,000)
44. Various Artists — Guardians Of The Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol 1 (40,000)
45. Taylor Swift — Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (40,000)
46. ABBA — Gold: Greatest Hits (39,000)
47. Drake — Take Care (38,000)
48. Madvillain — Madvillainy (38,000)
49. Various Artists — Vol. 2 Guardians Of The Galaxy (36,000)
50. Rex Orange County — Who Cares? (36,000)
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.