Vinyl record sales jumped 20 per cent last year with Irish acts featuring more strongly than the previous year, according to the Irish Recorded Music Association (Irma).
Almost 480,000 physical records were sold in the State as the vinyl revival continues to be a significant feature of the music market. Taylor Swift’s latest album The Life of a Showgirl topped the charts for overall and vinyl album sales, repeating the table-topping success of her Tortured Poet’s Department release in 2024.
But some classic albums also featured, including Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 release Rumours, which was the third highest-selling record on vinyl, 1994’s What’s the Story Morning Glory by Oasis (#7), and Jeff Buckley’s only studio album, Grace, also from 1994, which was the ninth best-selling album on vinyl.
Five Irish artists – Fontaines DC, CMAT, Kingfishr, Amble and Kneecap – feature among the top 10 most popular on vinyl, up from just two (Fontaines DC and Hozier) the previous year.
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Overall, album sales grew 12 per cent last year, with sales of singles up by 7 per cent, Irma said.
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Among newer technologies, there were 13.2 billion audio streams in the State last year, the industry group said, up 6 per cent on 2024 and 60 per cent on 2020. Irma said tracks by Irish artists accounted for 21.5 per cent of top 100 performers by sales in 2025, up threefold on the 2024 figure.
Even CDs and cassette formats saw growth – of 4.5 per cent and 64 per cent respectively – in what Irma chairman Willie Kavanagh called an “exceptional year for Irish acts at home and internationally”.
