What’s that old saying? If you wait long enough, that trend you missed out on will be cool again? Well, that could certainly be the case here.
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CDs - yes, you read that correctly - have had increased sales for the first time in 17 years. According to year-end MRC Data shared by Billboard, CD sales increased for the first time since 2004 as a total of 40.59 million units were sold in 2021.
This marks a 1.1% percent increase from 2020 when a total of 40.16 million units were sold.
What gives? Are CDs suddenly cool again? Well, we have a couple of standout artists we can thank for that.
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Anticipation already ran high when we found out Adele would be releasing her new album 30 in 2021. The album was a smash hit in the CD format as it sold a whopping 898,000 units. The record was the best-selling CD in the US by a wide margin.
Next up was Taylor Swift, who had three albums appear in the top 10 best-selling CDs of 2021. K-Pop superstars BTS also contributed to the comeback of the CD as their albums Map of the Soul: 7 and Be both landed in the top 10.
Check out a list of the top 10 best-selling CDs of 2021 below with their total units sold indicated in parenthesis.
Top 10 Best-Selling CDs of 2021
Adele, 30 (898,000)
Taylor Swift, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (263,000)
Taylor Swift, Red (Taylor’s Version) (237,000)
Carrie Underwood, My Savior (217,000)
TOMORROW X TOGETHER, The Chaos Chapter: Freeze (215,000)
Taylor Swift, Evermore (213,000)
NCT 127 – Sticker: The 3rd Album (211,000)
BTS, Map of the Soul: 7 (210,000)
Olivia Rodrigo, Sour (195,000)
BTS, Be (187,000)
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