Record Store Day 2021’s second drop (on July 17) fueled 1.140 million in vinyl album sales in the U.S. in the week ending July 22, according to MRC Data (up 74.5% compared to the previous week: 653,000). It’s the eighth time vinyl album sales have exceeded 1 million copies in a single week since MRC Data began electronically tracking sales in 1991, and all of the million-selling weeks have happened since 2019.
The disco-tastic Hail Satin by Dee Gees, aka Foo Fighters, was the top-selling Record Store Day album release of the week, with 12,000 vinyl LPs sold (plus another 3,000 in downloads following its wide digital release on July 19). The first five tracks on the 10-song album are covers of Bee Gees-penned songs, including four Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits: Bee Gees’ “You Should Be Dancing,” “Night Fever” and “Tragedy,” and Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing.” The second five songs on the Hail Satin project are live versions of tracks from Foo Fighters’ most recent studio album, Medicine at Midnight.
Record Store Day, the annual indie music retailer celebration, was staged over two days in 2021 — June 12 and July 17 — owing to complications caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Traditionally, Record Store Day is held on one Saturday in the springtime. In 2019, it was held on April 13. In 2020, Record Store Day was meant to be held on April 18 but was split into three separate drops: Aug. 26, Sept. 26 and Oct. 24.
Among the albums initially released for Record Store Day 2021’s second drop, aside from Hail Satin, were the vinyl release of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s Deja Vu: Alternates (alternative versions of songs from the group’s 1970 Billboard 200 No. 1 album Deja Vu), a clear vinyl pressing of Beastie Boys’ 1995 rock album Aglio e Olio, and the vinyl debut of Amy Winehouse’s Remixes (on double LP – one blue, one yellow).
Meanwhile, Pearl Jam issued its classic single “Alive” on both 12-inch vinyl and cassette, along with rare B-sides, and was the top-selling RSD single release of the week. “Alive” was the band’s first single to chart on a Billboard tally, debuting on the Mainstream Rock Airplay chart dated Jan. 4, 1992. It would peak at No. 16 on that chart, and also at No. 18 on Alternative Airplay.
Here are some facts on Record Store Day 2021’s second drop and its impact, plus a look at the top-selling Record Store Day-exclusive albums and singles (all data is for the week ending July 22, 2021, in the U.S.):
Total album sales across all formats (physical [including CD, vinyl, cassettes, etc.] and digital downloads): 2.316 million – up 32.1% compared to previous week (1.753 million)
Physical album sales (CD, vinyl, cassette, etc.): 1.842 million – up 40.3% compared to previous week (1.313 million)
CD album sales: 692,000 – up 6.2% compared to previous week (652,000)
Vinyl album sales: 1.140 million – up 74.5% compared to previous week (653,000). It’s only the eighth week that vinyl album sales have exceeded 1 million since MRC Data began electronically tracking sales in 1991. It’s also the second-largest vinyl sales week of 2021, trailing only the week ending June 17, which included Record Store Day 2021’s first drop (1.279 million).
49% of all albums sold in the U.S. in the week ending July 22 were vinyl albums: 1.140 million of 2.315 million
62% of all physical albums sold in the U.S. in the week ending July 22 were vinyl: 1.140 million of 1.842 million
Independent store album sales: 1.014 million – up 100.4% compared to previous week (506,000)
Independent store CD album sales: 202,000 – up 20.3% compared to previous week (168,000)
Independent store vinyl album sales: 811,000 – up 140.5% compared to previous week (337,000)
71% of all vinyl albums sold in the U.S. in the week ending July 22 were sold via independent record stores: 811,000 of 1.140 million
Top Record Store Day exclusive albums at independent record stores:
Rank, Artist, Title
1. Dee Gees / Foo Fighters, Hail Satin
2. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Deja Vu: Alternates
3. Beastie Boys, Aglio e Olio
4. Amy Winehouse, Remixes
5. Miles Davis, Champions: Rare Miles From the Complete Jack Johnson Sessions
6. Cat Stevens, Harold & Maude: The Songs From the Original Movie (Soundtrack)
7. The Rolling Stones, Hot Rocks 1964-1971
8. Allman Brothers Band, The Final Note: Painters Mill Music Fair, Owings Mills, MD 10-17-71
9. John Prine, Live: At the Other End, Dec. 1975
10. The Ramones, Triple J Live at the Wireless: Capital Theatre, Sydney, Australia, July 8, 1980
11. The Cure, Wild Mood Swings
12. Aretha Franklin, Oh Me Oh My: Aretha Live in Philly, 1972
13. Czarface, Czar Noir
14. Sisters of Mercy, BBC Sessions 1982-1984
15. Cro-Mags, The Age of Quarrel
16. The Clash, If Music Could Talk
17. Bill Evans, Behind the Dikes: The 1969 Netherlands Recordings
18. Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn
19. Queen + Adam Lambert, Live Around the World EP
20. Fear, The Record
21. Donna Summer, Bad Girls
22. Daryl Hall John Oates, Voices
23. John Prine, Stay Independent: The Oh Boy Years
24. Dr. John, The Sun, Moon and Herbs
25. Ultravox, Vienna
Top Record Store Day Exclusive Singles at Independent Record Stores
Rank, Artist, Title
1. Pearl Jam, Alive
2. Fleet Foxes featuring Resistance Revival Chorus, Can I Believe You / Wading in Waist-High Water
3. St. Vincent, Piggy / Sad But True
4. Bob Dylan, Jokerman / I and I (Remixes)
5. Karen O & Willie Nelson, Under Pressure
6. Dio, God Hates Heavy Metal
7. Denzel Curry & Robert Glasper, So Incredible / This Changes Everything (Live from Leimert Park)
8. ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, Beat on the Brat
9. Jxdn, Angels & Demons / Drivers License
10. The Dirty Knobs, Humdinger / Feelin’ High
Source: MRC Data, for the week ending July 22, 2021
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