Taylor Swift’s 10th studio album, Midnights is continuing to break records more than two months after its release. Its latest is a rather unusual feat. According to a report from The Guardian, Midnights has become the first album since 1987 to sell more vinyl records than compact discs.
Since its release, Midnights has reportedly sold 800,000 vinyl copies. Last year, only 14 million CDs were sold globally, and the number is continuing to decline.
“It’s a watershed moment for the entire music industry,” said Kim Bayley, the chief executive of the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) in a statement to The Guardian. “After the CD came along and pretty much wiped out the vinyl business, few of us would have believed a renaissance like this was possible.”
Still, experts don’t believe that the days of the disc are over. As vinyl has had a renaissance over the past few years, some experts believe CDs may experience a similar resurgence in popularity in the near future.
“Will the CD disappear? Of course its prospects don’t look good right now, but it offers a permanence and robustness and quality which is unique,” said Bayley. “Given how wrong we were about vinyl, it would be foolish to write off the CD forever.”
