1989 -- released through Big Machine Records -- sold 3.66 million copies in 2014, according to Nielsen Music, while the Frozen album shifted 3.53 million. (Nielsen's 2014 tracking year ran from Dec. 30, 2013 through Dec. 28, 2014.)
Overall album sales continued to erode, as their volume fell by 11 percent in 2014, compared to 2013. In total, there were 257 million albums sold in the past year, versus 289.4 million in 2013.
Digital album sales also fell, for only the second time, by 9 percent (106.5 million compared to 117.6 million in the year previous). Digital album sales declined for the first time in 2013, when they were off by 1 percent.
In total, just 13 albums have sold more than a million downloads, led by Adele's21, with 3.1 million digital copies. Frozen is the fourth-biggest digital album of all time, with a total of 1.43 million downloads, while 1989 is the No. 5 seller with 1.41 million.
Vinyl album sales were a bright spot in an otherwise generally bleak sales picture, as the configuration grew by 52 percent in 2014 to 9.2 million copies (up from 6.1 million in 2013). For the seventh straight year, more vinyl albums were sold than in any other year since Nielsen started tracking music sales in 1991.
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WSJ reports streaming usage grew considerably to 164 billion songs—a 54% increase from 106 billion in 2013, the company said. That growth was strong, but the music industry may need even stronger growth in the future if streaming is to make up for continued sales declines. Using the industry’s standard conversions, counting 1,500 song streams or 10 individual song downloads as an album sale, overall music consumption didn’t change significantly from 2013 to 2014.
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