In a move that should come as a surprise to absolutely no one who has been watching the American music industry lately, Taylor Swift ended 2023 with the bestselling album of the year. The news was made official in Luminaute’s year-end report, which makes clear that no set sold quite like one of the pop singer’s re-recordings.
In 2023, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) stood out as the bestselling album of the year in the biggest music market in the world. According to Luminate, the set sold just under two million pure copies throughout the year. The title ended the period with exactly 1.975 million purchases.
That massive sum not only means that 1989 (Taylor’s Version) was the bestseller of the year, but that it didn’t face any real competition. In fact, by the end of the year, Swift was only competing with herself.
The runner-up on the list of the albums that actually sold the most copies in 2023 in the U.S. also comes from Swift. Her 2022 release Midnights was purchased by 973,000 people in the United States last year. That sum doesn’t include the massive numbers it managed in the few months of 2022 in which it was available.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) was so massive, it outsold the No. 2 title more than twice over. The re-recorded take on Swift’s 1989 managed to sell more copies than the second and third-bestsellers of the year combined.
Impressively, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) didn’t even have the full year in which to rack up nearly two million purchases. The project was released in late October, so it managed to outsell Midnights–twice over, no less–in only about two months.
When looking at the list of the most-consumed albums in the U.S., Swift doesn’t hold on to the top spot. Luminate’s ranking of the most popular titles of the year, which factors in streams as well as sales, sees Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time appearing at No. 1 with more than five million equivalent units. On that roster, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) lands at No. 4 with 2.872 million equivalent units shifted.
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