Vinyl sales hit a billion-dollar milestone in 2025 to extend its 19-year resurgence, but the numbers aren’t quite clear cut.

Vinyl’s comeback keeps rolling

Just when some thought vinyl’s revival was slowing down, 2025 proved that the once outdated format is still thriving. Vinyl sales in the US officially crossed the $1 billion mark for the first time this century. That’s huge for vinyl’s continued role in today’s music market.

According to the RIAA, vinyl revenue reached $1.04 billion in 2025. That’s up 9.3% year-on-year. Unit sales climbed too, rising 7.9% to 46.8 million records. Meanwhile, Luminate’s data suggests unit sales up 8.6% to 47.9 million records. Either way, it’s solid growth which marks the 19th consecutive year of growth for the format.

Globally, the trend looks strong too. IFPI data indicates vinyl revenues rose 13.7% worldwide, outpacting that in the US.

Which artists are driving the growth of vinyl?

Unsurprisingly, Taylor Swift led vinyl sales in 2025. According to Luminate, she sold around 1.6 million copies of her album ‘The Life of a Showgirl’, with the album also being named as IFPI’s biggest selling album of 2025. Swift herself topped IFPI’s Global Artist chart for the sixth time. 

Here’s a look at Luminate’s top 10 selling albums on vinyl in 2025:

Image credits: Luminate

The numbers aren’t perfect

While everything looks good for vinyl, the data doesn’t line up perfectly. As DMN points out, the RIAA puts vinyl sales at 46.8 million units, while Luminate lands at 47.9 million units. That’s a 1.1 million difference, which certainly isn’t nothing.

So what’s going on? Part of it comes down to how the numbers are calculated. Different organizations track sales data in different ways, with Luminate recently changing their methodology. Altogether, this means that the exact rate of growth for vinyl is a bit blurry.

Why this matters for the music industry

Vinyl’s continued resurgence proves that the format still matters. For artists and labels, it’s a valuable source of revenue beyond just streaming. Plus, the collectible nature of vinyl offers a tangible connection with fans in a way that streaming simply can’t replace.

For independent artists in particular, it opens up another avenue to earn alongside distributing your music to streaming platforms with RouteNote. 

The bottom line

Vinyl is still going strong, with a billion dollars in revenue being a huge milestone. For artists and those in the industry, it’s a reminder of the opportunity that vinyl still provides as an extra source of revenue, even if the surrounding data may not be straightforward.

Distribute your music across all streaming platforms for free with RouteNote today.