Plus: Industry album sales up 26% for the week, physical album sales at indie stores see largest week in over a year & Billie Eilish's"Live at Third Man Records" leads Record Store Day sales parade.on Aug. 29, U.S. vinyl album sales surged to a new weekly high in 2020, as 802,000 copies were sold in the week ending Sept. 3, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. That’s a 63% increase compared to the previous week’s sales.
Further, the 802,000 sum is the biggest week for vinyl albums outside of the Christmas shopping season since the week ending April 18, 2019, when 848,000 were sold. That week included Record Store Day 2019 festivities. The biggest-selling album at indie and small chain record stores in the week ending Sept. 3 – as reflected on the weekly Tastemakers albums chart – was Billie Eilish’s Record Store Day release, with 13,000 copies sold. The 10-track acoustic album was recorded on Nov. 6, 2019 and was released exclusively on blue opaque vinyl. The set also debuts at No. 55 on the Billboard 200 chart.