Record Store Day’s Black Friday festivities on Nov. 24 yielded big gains for vinyl album sales in the U.S., thanks to hot-selling titles by the likes of Linkin Park, Olivia Rodrigo, The Doors, U2 and Post Malone – all released exclusively for the indie store holiday.
According to Luminate, in the tracking week ending Nov. 30, the top five-selling Record Store Day (RSD) Black Friday album release were Linkin Park’s Lost Demos (on translucent sea blue vinyl), Rodrigo’s four-song Guts: The Secret Tracks (on opaque deep purple vinyl), The Doors’ Live in Bakersfield, California, August 21, 1970 (on double vinyl), U2’s U2 Live: Under a Blood Red Sky (on red vinyl, naturally) and Post Malone’s The Diamond Collection (on clear double vinyl). (See lists below, which are ranked by album sales generated in the week ending Nov. 30.)
The Doors’ Live in Bakersfield set was released on both vinyl and as a two-CD set, and their combined sales across the two configurations make the album the RSD Black Friday top-seller overall for the week.
Typically, many unique and limited-edition titles – both albums and singles – are released for RSD Black Friday celebrations, exclusively sold through independent and small chain music stores. Record Store Day traditionally has its main indie store holiday in the springtime (2023’s edition was held on April 22), followed by a secondary shindig for Black Friday.
In the week ending Nov. 30, U.S. vinyl album sales industry-wide (across all sellers of music, not just indie stores and small chains) grew 67% to 1.748 million sold (up from 1.046 million sold the previous week). Independent store vinyl album sales for the week jumped 149% to 829,000 (up from 333,000 the previous week). 47.4% of all vinyl albums sold in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 30 were purchased at independent and small chain music stores (829,000 of 1.748 million).
With 1.748 million vinyl albums sold industry-wide, that marks the fifth-largest week for vinyl album sales in the U.S. in the modern era, since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. (It’s also the second-largest week of 2023 for vinyl album sales, following the week ending April 27, which captured Record Store Day 2023, with 1.809 million sold). The biggest week since 1991 for vinyl album sales was the week ending Dec. 22, 2022, when 2.232 million vinyl albums were sold.
Top-Selling Record Store Day Black Friday 2023 Exclusive Albums at Independent Record Stores in U.S. (By Configuration)
Rank, Artist, Title
1. Linkin Park, Lost Demos (translucent sea blue vinyl)
2. Olivia Rodrigo, Guts: The Secret Tracks (opaque deep purple vinyl)
3. The Doors, Live in Bakersfield, California, August 21, 1970 (double vinyl)
4. U2, U2 Live: Under a Blood Red Sky (red vinyl)
5. Post Malone, The Diamond Collection (clear double vinyl)
6. Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight (translucent “blacklight” purple vinyl)
7. Noah Kahan, Cape Elizabeth (color marbled vinyl)
8. Grateful Dead, Filmore West 1969, March 2nd (five vinyl LP box set)
9. Coheed and Cambria, Live at the Starland Ballroom (solar flare colored double vinyl)
10. Gram Parsons and The Fallen Angels, The Last Roundup: Live From the Bijou Café in Philadelphia, 3/16/73 (double vinyl)
11. Jerry Garcia & John Kahn, Pure Jerry: Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium San Rafael, California – February, 28, 1986 (double vinyl)
12. Joni Mitchell, Court and Spark: Demos (vinyl)
13. CZARFACE, CZARtificial Intelligence (translucent Czarbury orange vinyl)
14. The Beach Boys, The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album (green vinyl)
15. My Morning Jacket, Happy Holiday! (clear vinyl with “white snow splatters”)
16. Faces, Had Me a Real Good Time: Live at the BBC, In Session & In Concert 1971-1973 (vinyl)
17. Nas, I Am… The Autobiography (double vinyl)
18. The English Beat, I Just Can’t Stop It (double vinyl)
19. Willie Nelson, Shotgun Willie (double vinyl)
20. Bill Evans / Chuck Israels / Larry Bunker, Tales: Live in Copenhagen (1964) (vinyl)
21. Various Artists, Jazz Dispensary: At the Movies (purple marble vinyl)
22. Kim Petras, Problematique (apple red vinyl)
23. Jonas Brothers, The Family Business (clear double vinyl)
24. Soundtrack, Asteroid City (orange double vinyl)
25. The Flaming Lips, Live at the Paradise Lounge (pink vinyl)
Top-Selling Record Store Day Black Friday 2023 Exclusive Singles at Independent Record Stores in U.S.
Rank, Artist, Title
1. Prince and The N.P.G, Gett Off (12-inch vinyl)
2. Billy Strings featuring Willie Nelson, California Sober (green 12-inch vinyl)
3. Turnstile x BADBADNOTGOOD, Mystery / Alien Love Call, featuring Blood Orange / Underwater Boi (12-inch vinyl)
4. Motley Crue, Too Young to Fall In Love (Remix) / Knock em’ Dead Kid / Too Fast for Love (orange/black 12-inch vinyl)
5. Cypress Hill, Insane In the Brain (2023 Remix) / Hits From the Bong (2023 Remix) (12-inch vinyl)
6. Phoenix, Winter Solstice / Winter Solstice (Braxe+Falcon Remix) (7-inch vinyl)
7. Aimee Mann, Dead Eyes / Dead Eyes (demo) (7-inch vinyl)
8. Jeff Beck, Midnight Walker Lament, featuring Imelda May / Elegy for Dunkirk (Live), featuring Olivia Safe / Goin’ Down (Live) (12-inch vinyl)
9. The Hold Steady, The Death of the Punchline / Radar & Leda (random color 12-inch)
10. Waterboys, This Is the Sea (Fast) / The Passenger (10-inch vinyl)
Source: Luminate, for the week ending Nov. 30, 2023.
