Depending on where your heart aligns with music, 2012 was either an excellent year or a terrible year musically for you. That’s the beauty of music. Billboard, early Thursday, announced the top selling albums and songs of 2012, based on their records and compilation of sales. Longevity is all that matters in the eyes of Adele fans, as “21,” although released in 2011, was the top selling album of 2012 with 4.41 million records sold. She took home the honor in 2011, as well. Rounding out the Top 10 was Jason Aldean’s, “Night Train.”
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Sales were compiled from Jan 2, 2012 and ended on December 30, 2012. Billboard notes that “21” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart way back on the list March, 21, 2011. It has yet to leave the tally and has never been absent from the weekly top 40. Trailing behind Adele, in the No. 2 spot, was “Red” by Taylor Swift (3.11 million sold), which is pretty significant seeing that the album was released in October 2012. It’s the fourth time Swift has had an album ranked among a year’s top three sellers. Also making the list were One Direction, Justin Bieber, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Lionel Richie and Mumford and Sons. One Direction marks the first time, since SoundScan began keeping track in 1991, that an act has two albums that debuted in the same year taking two of the top five spots. Swift and Garth Brooks have come close to such an honor. 2012 also marks the first year that more than four country albums hold a place in the top ten, as 5 of the Top 10 albums of 2012 are country albums.
In 2012, overall album and physical CD sales decreased a little bit, while digital downloads expectantly increased. The top selling digital album of 2012? “21” by Adele, as well. Also of note, Billboard notes that for the fifth consecutive year, more vinyl albums were sold than in any other year since SoundScan launched in 1991. Finally, 2012 was a record year for digital downloads where a record 1.336 billion tracks were sold digitally, an increase of 5% from 2011. Check out the full list of the top album and song sales of 2012 below!
Top 10 Album Sales of 2012
“21” – Adele, 4.41 Million
“Red” – Taylor Swift, 3.11 Million
“Up All Night” – One Direction, 1.62 Million
“Babel” – Mumford & Sons, 1.46 Million
“Take Me Home” – One Direction, 1.34 Million
“Believe” – Justin Bieber, 1.34 Million
“Blown Away” – Carrie Underwood, 1.20 Million
“Tailgates & Tanlines” – Luke Bryan, 1.10 Million
“Tuskegee” – Lionel Richie, 1.07 Million
“Night Train” – Jason Aldean, 1.02 Million
Top 10 Song Sales of 2012
“Somebody That I Used To Know” – Gotye (feat. Kimbra), 6.80 Million
“Call Me Maybe” – Carly Rae Jepsen, 6.47 Million
“We Are Young” – fun. (feat. Janelle Monae), 5.95 Million
“Payphone” – Maroon 5 (feat. Wiz Khalifa), 4.76 Million
“Starships” – Nicki Minaj, 3.98 Million
“What Makes You Beautiful” – One Direction, 3.89 Million
“Some Nights” – fun., 3.84 Million
“Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” – Kelly Clarkson, 3.82 Million
“Gangnam Style” – Psy, 3.59 Million
“One More Night” – Maroon 5, 3.46 Million
